Conduction Electron Scattering in Alloys

Abstract

The aim of this review is to present a simple physical picture which shows how the electrical resistivity of a system depends upon the spatial extent and lifetime of the scattering disturbance measured in relation to the conduction electron mean free path and relaxation time. The contribution from spin fluctuations associated with isolated magnetic impurities is discussed on the basis of this model and it is shown that at temperatures below the characteristic spin fluctuation temperature the impurity acts as though it were nonmagnetic. Some results are given for both 'Kondo' (Anderson) and exchange enhanced (Wolfi) systems. Spin glasses are also discussed and the resistivity behaviour is shown to result from a competition between the RKKY interaction and spin fluctuation effects. Ordered magnetic clusters are shown to be static for periods comparable with the conduction electron relaxation time, so that there is no resistivity anomaly expected at the superparamagnetic blocking temperature. The observed temperature dependence of the resistivity then follows simply from the change in magnetic correlations within the cluster.