We report on a new method to determine the degree of bulk spin polarization in single crystal Co$_{(1-x)}$Fe$_x$S$_2$ by modeling magnetic Compton scattering with {it ab initio} calculations. Spin-dependent Compton profiles were measured for CoS$_2$
and Co$_{0.9}$Fe$_{0.1}$S$_2$. The {it ab initio} calculations were then refined by rigidly shifting the bands to provide the best fit between the calculated and experimental directional profiles for each sample. The bulk spin polarizations, $P$, corresponding to the spin-polarized density of states at the Fermi level, were then extracted from the {it refined} calculations. The values were found to be $P=-72 pm 6 %$ and $P=18 pm 7%$ for CoS$_2$ and Co$_{0.9}$Fe$_{0.1}$S$_2$ respectively. Furthermore, determinations of $P$ weighted by the Fermi velocity ($v_F$ or $v_F^2$) were obtained, permitting a rigorous comparison with other experimental data and highlighting the experimental dependence of $P$ on $v_F$.
We report high-resolution, bulk Compton scattering measurements unveiling the Fermi surface of an optimally-doped iron-arsenide superconductor, Ba(Fe$_{0.93}$Co$_{0.07}$)$_2$As$_2$. Our measurements are in agreement with first-principles calculations
of the electronic structure, revealing both the $X$-centered electron pockets and the $Gamma$-centered hole pockets. Moreover, our data are consistent with the strong three-dimensionality of one of these sheets that has been predicted by electronic structure calculations at the local-density-approximation-minimum As position. Complementary calculations of the noninteracting susceptibility, $chi_0({bf q}, omega)$, suggest that the broad peak that develops due to interband Fermi-surface nesting, and which has motivated several theories of superconductivity in this class of material, survives the measured three dimensionality of the Fermi surface in this family.
First-principles calculations of the electronic structure of members of the $R$NiC$_2$ series are presented, and their Fermi surfaces investigated for nesting propensities which might be linked to the charge-density waves exhibited by certain members
of the series ($R$ = Sm, Gd and Nd). Calculations of the generalized susceptibility, $chi_{0}({bf q},omega)$, show strong peaks at the same ${bf q}$-vector in both the real and imaginary parts for these compounds. Moreover, this peak occurs at a wavevector which is very close to that experimentally observed in SmNiC$_2$. In contrast, for LaNiC$_2$ (which is a superconductor below 2.7K) as well as for ferromagnetic SmNiC$_2$, there is no such sharp peak. This could explain the absence of a charge-density wave transition in the former, and the destruction of the charge-density wave that has been observed to accompany the onset of ferromagnetic order in the latter.
