No Arabic abstract
We discuss the Josephson effect in strongly spin-polarized ferromagnets where triplet correlations are induced by means of spin-active interface scattering, extending our earlier work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 227005 (2009)] by including impurity scattering in the ferromagnetic bulk and the inverse proximity effect in a fully self-consistent way. Our quasiclassical approach accounts for the differences of Fermi momenta and Fermi velocities between the two spin bands of the ferromagnet, and thereby overcomes an important short-coming of previous work within the framework of Usadel theory. We show that non-magnetic disorder in conjunction with spin-dependent Fermi velocities may induce a reversal of the spin-current as a function of temperature.
During the past 15 years a new field has emerged, which combines superconductivity and spintronics, with the goal to pave a way for new types of devices for applications combining the virtues of both by offering the possibility of long-range spin-polarized supercurrents. Such supercurrents constitute a fruitful basis for the study of fundamental physics as they combine macroscopic quantum coherence with microscopic exchange interactions, spin selectivity, and spin transport. This report follows recent developments in the controlled creation of long-range equal-spin triplet supercurrents in ferromagnets and its contribution to spintronics. The mutual proximity-induced modification of order in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrid structures introduces in a natural way such evasive phenomena as triplet superconductivity, odd-frequency pairing, Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing, long-range equal-spin supercurrents, $pi$-Josephson junctions, as well as long-range magnetic proximity effects. All these effects were rather exotic before 2000, when improvements in nanofabrication and materials control allowed for a new quality of hybrid structures. Guided by pioneering theoretical studies, experimental progress evolved rapidly, and since 2010 triplet supercurrents are routinely produced and observed. We have entered a new stage of studying new phases of matter previously out of our reach, and of merging the hitherto disparate fields of superconductivity and spintronics to a new research direction: super-spintronics.
We study experimentally nanoscale Josephson junctions and Josephson spin-valves containing strong Ni ferromagnets. We observe that in contrast to junctions, spin valves with the same geometry exhibit anomalous Ic(H) patterns with two peaks separated by a dip. We develop several techniques for in-situ characterization of micromagnetic states in our nano-devices, including magnetoresistance, absolute Josephson fluxometry and First-Order-Reversal-Curves analysis. They reveal a clear correlation of the dip in supercurrent with the antiparallel state of a spin-valve and the peaks with two noncollinear magnetic states, thus providing evidence for generation of spin-triplet superconductivity. A quantitative analysis brings us to a conclusion that the triplet current in out Ni-based spin-valves is approximately three times larger than the conventional singlet supercurrent.
The long-range proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrid nano-structures is observed if singlet Cooper pairs from the superconductor are converted into triplet pairs which can diffuse into the fer- romagnet over large distances. It is commonly believed that this happens only in the presence of magnetic inhomogeneities. We show that there are other sources of the long-range triplet component (LRTC) of the con- densate and establish general conditions for their occurrence. As a prototypical example we consider first a system where the exchange field and spin-orbit coupling can be treated as time and space components of an effective SU(2) potential. We derive a SU(2) covariant diffusive equation for the condensate and demonstrate that an effective SU(2) electric field is responsible for the long-range proximity effect. Finally, we extend our analysis to a generic ferromagnet and establish a universal condition for the LRTC. Our results open a new avenue in the search for such correlations in S/F structures and make a hitherto unknown connection between the LRTC and Yang-Mills electrostatics.
We investigate inverse proximity effects in a spin-triplet superconductor (TSC) interfaced with a ferromagnet (FM), assuming different types of magnetic profiles and chiral or helical pairings. The region of the coexistence of spin-triplet superconductivity and magnetism is significantly influenced by the orientation and spatial extension of the magnetization with respect to the spin configuration of the Cooper pairs, resulting into clearcut anisotropy signatures. A characteristic mark of the inverse proximity effect arises in the induced spin-polarization at the TSC interface. This is unexpectedly stronger when the magnetic proximity is weaker, thus unveiling immediate detection signatures for spin-triplet pairs. We show that an anomalous magnetic proximity can occur at the interface between the itinerant ferromagnet, SrRuO$_3$, and the unconventional superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$. Such scenario indicates the potential to design characteristic inverse proximity effects in experimentally available SrRuO$_3$-Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ heterostructures and to assess the occurrence of spin-triplet pairs in the highly debated superconducting phase of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.
We have studied the proximity-induced superconducting triplet pairing in CoO$_x$/Py1/Cu/Py2/Cu/Pb spin-valve structure (where Py = Ni$_{0.81}$Fe$_{0.19}$). By optimizing the parameters of this structure we found a triplet channel assisted full switching between the normal and superconducting states. To observe an isolated triplet spin-valve effect we exploited the oscillatory feature of the magnitude of the ordinary spin-valve effect $Delta T_c$ in the dependence of the Py2-layer thickness $d_{Py2}$. We determined the value of $d_{Py2}$ at which $Delta T_c$ caused by the ordinary spin-valve effect (the difference in the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ between the antiparallel and parallel mutual orientation of magnetizations of the Py1 and Py2 layers) is suppressed. For such a sample a pure triplet spin-valve effect which causes the minimum in $T_c$ at the orthogonal configuration of magnetizations has been observed.