Controlled suppression of superconductivity by the generation of polarized Cooper pairs in spin-valve structures

Machiel Geert Flokstra, T.C. Cunningham, J. Kim, Nathan Satchell, Gavin Burnell, Peter J. Curran, Simon J. Bending, Christy Kinane, Joshaniel F.K. Cooper, Sean Langridge, Aldo Isidori, Nataliya Pugach, Matthias Eschrig, Stephen L. Lee

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Abstract

Transport measurements are presented on thin-film superconducting spin-valve systems, where the controlled non-collinear arrangement of two ferromagnetic Co layers can be used to influence the superconducting state of Nb. We observe a very clear oscillation of the superconducting transition temperature with the relative orientation of the two ferromagnetic layers. Our measurements allow us to distinguish between the competing influences of domain averaging, stray dipolar fields and the formation of superconducting spin triplets. Domain averaging is shown to lead to a weak enhancement of transition temperature for the anti-parallel configuration of exchange fields, while much larger changes are observed for other configurations, which can be attributed to drainage currents due to spin triplet formation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number060501(R)
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume91
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2015

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