Asymmetric Ferromagnet-Superconductor-Ferromagnet Switch

Journal Article · Fri Nov 04 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Phys.Rev. B77:184501,2008

OSTI ID:1028667

Cadden-Zimansky, P.; Bazaliy, Ya. B.; Litvak, L. M.; Jiang, J. S.; Pearson, J.; Gu, J. Y.; You, Chun-Yeol; Beasley, M. R.; Bader, S. D.

In layered ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet F{sub 1} /S/F{sub 2} structures, the critical temperature T{sub c} of the superconductors depends on the magnetic orientation of the ferromagnetic layers F{sub 1} and F{sub 2} relative to each other. So far, the experimentally observed magnitude of change in T{sub c} for structures utilizing weak ferromagnets has been 2 orders of magnitude smaller than is expected from calculations. We theoretically show that such a discrepancy can result from the asymmetry of F/S boundaries, and we test this possibility by performing experiments on structures where F{sub 1} and F{sub 2} are independently varied. Our experimental results indicate that asymmetric boundaries are not the source of the discrepancy. If boundary asymmetry is causing the suppressed magnitude of T{sub c} changes, it may only be possible to detect in structures with thinner ferromagnetic layers.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC)
• Sponsoring Organization: US DOE Office of Science (DOE SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1028667
• Report Number(s): SLAC-PUB-14678
• Journal Information: Phys.Rev. B77:184501,2008, Journal Name: Phys.Rev. B77:184501,2008; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ASYMMETRY
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
CRITICAL TEMPERATURE
FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MATSCI
ORIENTATION
SUPERCONDUCTORS