We present ab initio calculations for the in-plane conductivity of Co/Cu multilayer slabs. The electronic structure of the multilayer slabs is calculated by means of density-functional theory within a screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker scheme. Transport properties are described using the Boltzmann equation in relaxation-time approximation. We study the change of the conductivity during growth of the multilayer, and we can reproduce the anomalous, non-Ohmic behavior observed experimentally in several multilayer systems. Our results show that this behavior can be explained in terms of the electronic structure of the slab only. No extra assumption for the scattering at the interfaces is necessary. The connection of electronic structure and conductivity during layer-by-layer growth is elucidated by analyzing the layer-projected conductivities.

• Received 17 September 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.65.134432