Interface transparency of superconductor/ferromagnetic multilayers
- Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9506, 2300 RA Leiden (the Netherlands)
- van der Waals-Zeeman Laboratory, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 4, NL-1018 TV Amsterdam (the Netherlands)
- Institute of Solid State Physics, Chernogolovka, Moscow District, 142432 (Russia)
- Philips Research Laboratories, Prof. Holstlaan 4, 5656 AA Eindhoven (the Netherlands)
We have investigated the behavior of the superconducting transition temperature T{sub c} in superconducting/ferromagnetic (S/F) multilayers, as a function of the different layer thicknesses and for varying magnetic moment {mu}{sub F} of the F-layer atoms. The system studied consists of superconducting V and ferromagnetic V{sub 1{minus}x}Fe{sub x} alloys with x such that {mu}{sub F} on the Fe atom is varied between 2 and 0.25{mu}{sub B}. We determined the superconducting coherence length in the F layer {xi}{sub F}, which is found to be inversely proportional to {mu}{sub F}. We also determined the critical thickness of the S layer, above which superconductivity appears. This thickness is found to be strongly nonmonotonic as function of the Fe concentration in the alloys. By analyzing the data in terms of the proximity-effect theory, we show that with increasing {mu}{sub F}, the increasing pair breaking in the F layer by the exchange field is counteracted by a decreasing transparency of the S/F interface for Cooper pairs. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 528084
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 56, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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