We study two different superconductor-ferromagnet (S/F) structures. We consider first a Josephson junction which consists of two S/F bilayers separated by an insulating layer. We show that for an antiparallel alignment of the magnetization in the two F layers the Josephson critical current $I_c$ increases with increasing exchange field $h$. The second system we consider is a S/F structure with a local inhomogeneity of the magnetization in the ferromagnet near the S/F interface. Due to the proximity effect not only a singlet but also a triplet component of the superconducting condensate is induced in the ferromagnet. The latter penetrates over the length $\sqrt{D/ε}$ ($D$ is the diffusion coefficient and $ε$ the energy). In the case of temperatures of the order of the Thouless energy this length is comparable to the length of the ferromagnet. This long-range penetration leads to a significant increase of the ferromagnet conductance below the superconducting critical temperature $T_c$. Contrary to the case of the singlet component, the contribution to the conductance due to the odd triplet component is not zero at $T = 0$ and $V = 0$ ($V$ is the voltage) and decays with increasing temperature T in a monotonic way
We calculate the dc Josephson current $I_J$ for two types of superconductor-ferromagnet (S/F) Josephson junctions. The junction of the first type is a S/F/S junction. On the basis of the Eilenberger equation, the Josephson current is calculated for an arbitrary impurity concentration. If $% hτ\ll1$ the expression for the Josephson critical current $I_c$ is reduced to that which can be obtained from the Usadel equation ($h$ is the exchange energy, $τ$ is the momentum relaxation time). In the opposite limit $hτ\gg1$ the superconducting condensate oscillates with period $% v_F/h$ and penetrates i…
We discuss the effects of thermal noise on the magnetic response of a lateral ferromagnetic Josephson junction with spin-orbit coupling and out-of-plane magnetization. The direction of the magnetic moment in the ferromagnetic layer can be inverted by using controlled current pulses. This phenomenon is due to the magnetoelectric effect that couples the flowing charge current and the magnetization of the ferromagnet. We investigate the magnetization reversal effect versus intrinsic parameters of the ferromagnet, such as the Gilbert damping and strength of the spin-orbit coupling. We estimate the…
The Josephson current in a diffusive superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction with precessing magnetization is calculated within the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity. When the junction is phase-biased, a stationary current (without a.c. component) can flow through it despite the non-equilibrium condition. A large critical current is predicted due to a dynamically induced long range triplet proximity effect. Such effect could be observed in a conventional hybrid device close to the ferromagnetic resonance.
We investigate transverse charge and spin dc supercurrents in a ferromagnet coupled to a superconductor where the ferromagnet has inhomogeneous magnetic structure. These transverse supercurrents arise from non-trivial structure of the magnetization. The magnetic structure manifested in the transverse charge supercurrent is essentially different from that discussed in the context of anomalous Hall effect, reflecting the disspationless nature of supercurrent. Possible candidates of magnetic structure to verify our prediction are also discussed.
We theoretically investigate the magnetization inside a normal metal containing the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) induced by the proximity effect in an s-wave superconductor/normal metal/ferromagnetic metal/s-wave superconductor (S/N/F/S) Josephson junction. By solving the linearized Usadel equation taking account of the RSOI,we find that the direction of the magnetization induced by the proximity effect in N can be reversed by tuning the RSOI.Moreover, we also find that the direction of the magnetization inside N can be reversed by changing the superconducting phase difference, i.e., J…
We investigate the interplay between ferromagnetic and superconducting order at the edge of a quantum spin Hall insulator. Using complementary analytical and self-consistent numerical approaches, we study a ferromagnetic Josephson junction and show how the direct coupling between magnetism and the superconducting U(1) phase gives rise to several unusual phenomena which distinguishes the present system from its non-topological equivalent. In particular, we demonstrate how the anomalous current-phase relation triggers supercurrent-induced magnetization dynamics and also study the spatial localiz…
We consider the minigap in a disordered ferromagnet (F) in contact with a superconductor (S) in the situation when the magnetization of the F layer is inhomogeneous in space and noncollinear. If the magnetization is strongly inhomogeneous, it effectively averages out, and the minigap survives up to the exchange field $h_c ~ (L/a) E_{Th}$, where $L$ is the thickness of the F layer, $a$ is the scale on which the magnetization varies, and $E_{Th}$ is the Thouless energy. Technically, we use the "triplet" version of the Usadel equations including both singlet and triplet components of the Green's …
Strong dependence of the Josephson energy on the magnetization orientation in Josephson junctions with ferromagnetic interlayers and spin-orbit coupling opens a way to control magnetization by Josephson current or Josephson phase. Here we investigate the perspectives of magnetization control in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor (S/F/S) Josephson junctions on the surface of a 3D topological insulator hosting Dirac quasiparticles. Due to the spin-momentum locking of these Dirac quasiparticles a strong dependence of the Josephson current-phase relation on the magnetization orientation is …
We investigate the current induced magnetization dynamics and magnetization switching in an unconventional p-wave superconductor sandwiched between two misaligned ferromagnetic layers by numerically solving Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation modified with current induced Slonczewski's spin torque term. A modified form of Ginzburg-Landau free energy functional has been used for this purpose. We demonstrated the possibility of current induced magnetization switching in the spin-triplet ferromagnetic superconducting hybrid structures with strong easy axis anisotropy and the condition for magnetizat…
We study clean ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet (FSF) nanostructures in which the magnetization of the F layers can be parallel (P) or antiparallel (AP). We consider the case where the thickness of the S layer is of order of the coherence length, with thinner F layers. We find that reversing the direction of the magnetization in one of the F layers leads in general to drastic changes in the superconductor's state. Under a wide variety of conditions, the AP geometry favors superconductivity. Magnetization reversal in one of the F layers can lead to the superconductivity turning on and off…
Transport phenomena in clean ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet (FSF) trilayers are studied theoretically for a general case of arbitrary orientation of in-plane magnetizations and interface transparencies. Generalized expressions for scattering probabilities are derived and the differential conductance is computed using solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation. We focus on size and coherence effects that characterize ballistic transport, in particular on the subgap transmission and geometrical oscillations of the conductance. We find a monotonic dependence of conductance spectra and…
In this work, we study magnetization dynamics in superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor thin-film structures. Results of the broad-band ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy are reported for a large set of samples with varied thickness of both superconducting and ferromagnetic layers in a wide frequency, field, and temperature ranges. Experimentally the one-dimensional anisotropic action of superconducting torque on magnetization dynamics is established; its dependence on thickness of layers is revealed. It is demonstrated that experimental findings support the recently-proposed mechanism of…
We performed scanning tunneling spectroscopy of c-axis oriented YBCO films on top of which ferromagnetic SRO islands were grown epitaxially in-situ. When measured on the ferromagnetic islands, the density of states exhibits small gap-like features consistent with the expected short range penetration of the order parameter into the ferromagnet. However, anomalous split-gap structures are measured on the superconductor in the vicinity of ferromagnetic islands. This observation may provide evidence for the recently predicted induced magnetization in the superconductor side of a superconductor/ fe…
We report a dc magnetization study of the critical phenomenon around the ferromagnetic transition temperature T_C in high-quality single crystals of uranium ferromagnetic superconductors UGe2 and URhGe. The critical exponents, beta for the temperature dependence of the magnetization below T_C, gamma for the magnetic susceptibility, and delta for the magnetic isothermal at T_C have been determined with a modified Arrott plot, a Kouvel-Fisher plot, and the scaling analysis. Magnetization in the ferromagnetic state has strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the two compounds. However, the univers…
We study the Josephson effect in clean heterojunctions that consist of superconductors connected through two metallic ferromagnets with insulating interfaces. We solve the scattering problem based on the Bogoliubov--de Gennes equation for any relative orientation of in-plane magnetizations, arbitrary transparency of interfaces, and mismatch of Fermi wave vectors. Both spin singlet and triplet superconducting correlations are taken into account, and the Josephson current is calculated as a function of the ferromagnetic layers thicknesses and of the angle $α$ between their magnetizations. We fin…
Using numerical simulation we have studied a magnetization distribution and a process of magnetization reversal in nanoscale magnets placed above a superconductor plane. In order to consider an influence of superconductor on magnetization distribution in the nanomagnet we have used London approximation. We have found that for usual values of London penetration depth the ground state magnetization is mostly unchanged. But at the same time the fields of vortex nucleation and annihilation change significantly: the interval where vortex is stable enlarges on 100-200 Oe for the particle above the s…
We have measured the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ of Ni/Nb/Ni trilayers when the magnetizations of the two outer Ni layers are parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP). The largest difference in $T_c$ occurs when the Nb thickness is just above the critical thickness at which superconductivity disappears completely. We have observed a difference in $T_c$ between the P and AP states as large as 41 mK - a significant increase over earlier results in samples with higher $T_c$ and with a CuNi alloy in place of the Ni. Our result also demonstrates that strong elemental ferromagnets are pro…
Epitaxial bilayers of ferromagnetic La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (LCMO) and superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-d (YBCO) have been grown on single-crystalline SrTiO3 (STO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The Manganese magnetization profile across the FM layer has been determined with high spatial resolution at low temperatures by X-ray resonant magnetic reflectivity (XRMR). It is found that not only the adjacent superconductor but also the substrate underneath influences the magnetization of the LCMO film at the interfaces at low temperatures. Both effects can be investigated individually by XRMR.
Magnetization measurements in superconductor/ferromagnet Nb/Co superlattices show a complex behavior as a function of temperature, applied field and sample history. In base to a simple model it is shown that this behavior is due to an interplay between the superconductor magnetization temperature dependence, the ferromagnet magnetization time dependence, and the stray fields of both materials. It is also shown that the magnetic state of the Co layers is modified by the Nb superconducting response, implying that the problem of a superconductor/ferromagnetic heterogeneous sample has to be solved…
In this work, magnetization dynamics is studied in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor three-layered films in a wide frequency, field, and temperature ranges using the broad-band ferromagnetic resonance measurement technique. It is shown that in presence of both superconducting layers and of superconducting proximity at both superconductor/ferromagnet interfaces a massive shift of the ferromagnetic resonance to higher frequencies emerges. The phenomenon is robust and essentially long-range: it has been observed for a set of samples with the thickness of ferromagnetic layer in the range f…