We present a systematic study on the physical properties of EuFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_{2}$ (0$\leq$\emph{x}$\leq$0.2) by electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and thermopower measurements. The undoped compound EuFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ undergoes a spin-density-wave (SDW) transition associated with Fe moments at 195 K, followed by antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering of Eu$^{2+}$ moments at 20 K. Ni doping at the Fe site simultaneously suppresses the SDW transition and AFM ordering of Eu$^{2+}$ moments. For $x\geq$0.06, the magnetic ordering of Eu$^{2+}$ moments evolves from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic (FM). The SDW transition is completely suppressed for $x\geq$0.16, however, no superconducting transition was observed down to 2 K. The possible origins of the AFM-to-FM transition and the absence of superconductivity in EuFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_{2}$ system are discussed.
Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements are performed on the ferromagnetic superconductor EuFe$_{2}$(As$_{0.8}$P$_{0.2}$)$_{2}$ ($T\rm_{sc}=22.5\,$K) to probe the delicate interplay between ferromagnetism and superconductivity. A clear signature of large ferromagnetic domains is found below the ferromagnetic ordering temperature $T\rm_{C}$ = 18.5 K. In a small temperature interval of $\sim$ 1.5 K below $T\rm_{C}$, additional SANS signal is observed, of which the indirect Fourier transform reveals characteristic length scales in between $\sim$ 80 nm to $\sim$ 160 nm. These nanometer-…
Using angle resolved photoemission it is shown that the low lying electronic states of the iron pnictide parent compound EuFe$_2$As$_2$ are strongly modified in the magnetically ordered, low temperature, orthorhombic state compared to the tetragonal, paramagnetic case above the spin density wave transition temperature. Back-folded bands, reflected in the orthorhombic/ anti-ferromagnetic Brillouin zone boundary hybridize strongly with the non-folded states, leading to the opening of energy gaps. As a direct consequence, the large Fermi surfaces of the tetragonal phase fragment, the low temperat…
The magnetic structure of the Eu2+ moments in the superconducting EuFe2(As1-xPx)2 sample with x = 0.15 has been determined using element specific x-ray resonant magnetic scattering. Combining magnetic, thermodynamic and scattering measurements, we conclude that the long range ferromagnetic order of the Eu2+ moments aligned primarily along the c axis coexists with the bulk superconductivity at zero field. At an applied magnetic field >= 0.6 T, superconductivity still coexists with the ferromagnetic Eu2+ moments which are polarized along the field direction. We propose a spontaneous vortex state…
Among iron 122 pnictide superconductors, the EuFe$_2$As$_2$ series draws particular interest because, in addition to superconductivity or the long-range spin-density-wave order in the Fe subsystem, the localized Eu$^{2+}$ magnetic moments order at low temperatures. Here we present a novel scheme of how the spins align in the Eu compounds when pressure varies the coupling; we explain magnetization measurements on EuFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ single crystals as well as other observations of the Eu$^{2+}$ ordering previously reported in literature. The magnetic moments of the Eu$^{2+}$ ions are …
The EuFe(2-x)Ni(x)As2 compounds exhibiting 3d and/or 4f magnetic order were investigated by means of 57Fe and 151Eu Mössbauer spectroscopy. Additionally, results for the end members of this system, i.e. EuFe2As2 and EuNi2As2, are reported for comparison. It was found that spin-density-wave order of the Fe itinerant moments is monotonically suppressed by Ni-substitution. However, the 3d magnetic order survives at the lowest temperature up to at least x = 0.12 and it is certainly completely suppressed for x = 0.20. The Eu localized moments order regardless of the Ni concentration, but undergo a …
The interplay between superconductivity and Eu$ ^{2+}$ magnetic moments in EuFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ is studied by electrical resistivity measurements under hydrostatic pressure on $x=0.13$ and $x=0.18$ single crystals. We can map hydrostatic pressure to chemical pressure $x$ and show, that superconductivity is confined to a very narrow range $0.18\leq x \leq 0.23$ in the phase diagram, beyond which ferromagnetic (FM) Eu ordering suppresses superconductivity. The change from antiferro- to FM Eu ordering at the latter concentration coincides with a Lifshitz transition and the complete depre…
Static (DC) and dynamic (AC, at 14 MHz and 8 GHz) magnetic susceptibilities of single crystals of a ferromagnetic superconductor, $\textrm{EuFe}_{2}(\textrm{As}_{1-x}\textrm{P}_{x})_{2}$ (x = 0.23), were measured in pristine state and after different doses of 2.5 MeV electron or 3.5 MeV proton irradiation. The superconducting transition temperature, $T_{c}(H)$, shows an extraordinarily large decrease. It starts at $T_{c}(H=0)\approx24\:\textrm{K}$ in the pristine sample for both AC and DC measurements, but moves to almost half of that value after moderate irradiation dose. Our results suggest …
Using low-temperature Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) we provide direct experimental evidence for spontaneous vortex phase (SVP) formation in EuFe$_2$(As$_{0.79}$P$_{0.21}$)$_2$ single crystal with the superconducting $T^{\rm 0}_{\rm SC}=23.6$~K and ferromagnetic $T_{\rm FM}\sim17.7$~K transition temperatures. Spontaneous vortex-antivortex (V-AV) pairs are imaged in the vicinity of $T_{\rm FM}$. Also, upon cooling cycle near $T_{\rm FM}$ we observe the first-order transition from the short period domain structure, which appears in the Meissner state, into the long period domain structure with …
Superconductivity and ferromagnetism are two antagonistic cooperative phenomena, which makes it difficult for them to coexist. Here we demonstrate experimentally that they do coexist in EuFe$_{2}$(As$_{1-x}$P$_{x}$)$_{2}$ with $0.2\leq x\leq0.4$, in which superconductivity is associated with Fe-3$d$ electrons and ferromagnetism comes from the long-range ordering of Eu-4$f$ moments via Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions. The coexistence is featured by large saturated ferromagnetic moments, high and comparable superconducting and magnetic transition temperatures, and broad coexist…
Ternary iron phosphide EuFe$_2$P$_2$ with ThCr$_2$Si$_2$-type structure has been systematically studied by the measurements of crystal structure, magnetization, Mössbauer effect, transport properties and specific heat. The structural refinement result confirms no direct P-P covalent bonding. The Mössbauer spectra indicate no magnetic moment for the Fe atoms and, that the Eu ions are divalent in the whole temperatures, carrying local moments of $S$=7/2. The Eu$^{2+}$ spins order ferromagnetically at $T_C$=29.5 K, followed by a possible helimagnetic ordering below $T_{HM}$=26 K, where the Eu$^{2…
We report on the investigation of the magnetic superconductor EuFe$_{2}$(As$_{0.7}$P$_{0.3}$)$_{2}$ based on muon-spin spectroscopy and ac magnetic susceptibility ($χ$) measurements. The dependence of the internal field at the muon site on temperature is indicative of a ferromagnetic ordering of Eu$^{2+}$ magnetic moments and only the conventional magnon scattering governs the longitudinal relaxation rate at low temperatures. At the same time, we observe a rich phenomenology for the imaginary component of the susceptibility $χ^{\prime\prime}$ by means of both standard ac susceptibility and a n…
We investigated temperature and fluence dependent dynamics of the time resolved optical reflectivity in undoped spin-density-wave (SDW) and doped superconducting (SC) EuFe$_{2}$(As,P)$_{2}$ with emphasis on the ordered Eu$^{2+}$-spin temperature region. The data indicate that the SDW order coexists at low temperature with the SC and Eu$^{2+}$-ferromagnetic order. Increasing the excitation fluence leads to a thermal suppression of the Eu$^{2+}$-spin order due to the crystal-lattice heating while the SDW order is suppressed nonthermally at a higher fluence.
Magnetic flux structure on the surface of EuFe$_2$(As$\rm_{1-x}$P$\rm_x$)$_2$ single crystals with nearly optimal phosphorus doping levels $x=0.20$, and $x=0.21$ is studied by low-temperature magnetic force microscopy and decoration with ferromagnetic nanoparticles. The studies are performed in a broad temperature range. It is shown that the single crystal with $x=0.21$ in the temperature range between the critical temperatures $T_{\rm SC}=22$ K and $T_{\rm C}=17.7$ K of the superconducting and ferromagnetic phase transitions, respectively, has the vortex structure of a frozen magnetic flux, t…
We present the results of electrical resistivity, ac specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) of the ternary iron arsenide EuFe2As2 single crystal under pressure. Applying pressure leads to a continuous suppression of the antiferromagnetism associated with Fe moments and the antiferromagnetic transition temperature becomes zero in the vicinity of a critical pressure Pc ~2.5-2.7 GPa. Pressure-induced re-entrant superconductivity, which is highly sensitive to the homogeneity of the pressure, only appears in the narro…
The compound EuFe(2-x)Co(x)As2 was investigated by means of the 57Fe and 151Eu Moessbauer spectroscopy versus temperature (4.2 - 300 K) for x=0 (parent), x=0.34 - 0.39 (superconductor) and x=0.58 (overdoped). It was found that spin density wave (SDW) is suppressed by Co-substitution, however it survives in the region of superconductivity, but iron spectra exhibit some non-magnetic component in the superconducting region. Europium orders anti-ferromagnetically regardless of the Co concentration with the spin re-orientation from the a-axis in the parent compound toward c-axis with the increasing…
In this work, fabrication and characterization of magnetic properties of EuFe2As2 and EuRbFe4As4 single crystals is reported. Magnetization measurements of samples with well defined thin film geometry and crystal orientation demonstrate a striking similarity in ferromagnetic properties of Eu subsystems in these two compounds. Measurements with magnetic field applied along ab crystal planes reveal meta-magnetic transition in both compounds. Numerical studies employing the Jz1-Jz2 Heisenberg model suggest that the ground state of the magnetic order in Eu subsystem for both compounds is the helic…
We have studied a EuFe2As2 single crystal by neutron diffraction under magnetic fields up to 3.5 T and temperatures down to 2 K. A field induced spin reorientation is observed in the presence of a magnetic field along both the a and c axes, respectively. Above critical field, the ground state antiferromagnetic configuration of Eu$^{2+}$ moments transforms into a ferromagnetic structure with moments along the applied field direction. The magnetic phase diagram for Eu magnetic sublattice in EuFe2As2 is presented. A considerable strain ($\sim$0.9%) is induced by the magnetic field, caused by the …
We present an experimental study of the local and collective magnetism of $\mathrm{EuFe_2As_2}$, that is isostructural with the high temperature superconductor parent compound $\mathrm{BaFe_2As_2}$. In contrast to $\mathrm{BaFe_2As_2}$, where only Fe spins order, $\mathrm{EuFe_2As_2}$ has an additional magnetic transition below 20 K due to the ordering of the Eu$^{2+}$ spins ($J =7/2$, with $L=0$ and $S=7/2$) in an A-type antiferromagnetic texture (ferromagnetic layers stacked antiferromagnetically). This may potentially affect the FeAs layer and its local and correlated magnetism. Fe-K$_β$ x-…
We discover a robust coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in an iron arsenide RbEuFe$_4$As$_4$. The new material crystallizes in an intergrowth structure of RbFe$_2$As$_2$ and EuFe$_2$As$_2$, such that the Eu sublattice turns out to be primitive instead of being body-centered in EuFe$_2$As$_2$. The FeAs layers, featured by asymmetric As coordinations, are hole doped due to charge homogenization. Our combined measurements of electrical transport, magnetization and heat capacity unambiguously and consistently indicate bulk superconductivity at 36.5 K in the FeAs layers and ferroma…
Recently discovered superconducting P-doped EuFe$_2$As$_2$ compounds reveal the situation when the superconducting critical temperature substantially exceeds the ferromagnetic transition temperature. The main mechanism of the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity occurs to be an electromagnetic one and a short period magnetic domain structure was observed just below Curie temperature [Stolyarov et al., Sci. Adv. \textbf{4}, eaat1061 (2018)]. We elaborate a theory of such transition and demonstrate how the initial sinusoidal magnetic structure gradually transforms into a soliton-lik…
We investigate the effect of substituting Si for Ge in the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe. Dc-magnetization, ac-susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements on polycrystalline UCoGe$_{1-x}$Si$_x$ samples show that ferromagnetic order and superconductivity are progressively depressed with increasing Si content and simultaneously vanish at a critical concentration $x_{cr} \simeq 0.12$. The non-Fermi liquid temperature variation in the electrical resistivity near $x_{cr}$ and the smooth depression of the ordered moment point to a continuous ferromagnetic quantum phase transition. Su…
Recently the evidence of the helical magnetic structure modulated along $c$-axis with the period of four lattice parameters was obtained in easy $ab$ plane ferromagnetic superconductor EuRbFe$_4$As$_4$ [K. Iida et al., Phys. Rev. B 100, 014506 (2019)]. We argue that such structure may appear due to the presence of superconductivity. In spite of the very small value of the exchange field acting on the superconducting electrons in EuRbFe$_4$As$_4$, the exchange mechanism of interaction between superconductivity and ferromagnetism could dominate over the electromagnetic one and this circumstance …
Motivated by the recent observation of ferromagnetic spin correlations in the filled skutterudite SrFe$_4$As$_{12}$ [Ding et al., Phys. Rev. B 98, 155149 (2018)], we have carried out $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements to investigate the role of magnetic fluctuations in a newly discovered isostructural superconductor SrOs$_4$As$_{12}$ with a superconducting transition temperature of $T_{\rm c}$ $\sim$ 4.8 K. Knight shift $K$ determined by the NQR spectrum under a small magnetic field ($\le$ 0.5 T) is nearly independent of temperature, …
We use muon spin relaxation (muSR) to investigate the magnetic properties of a bulk form diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor (DFS) Li1.15(Zn0.9Mn0.1)P with T_C ~ 22 K. MuSR results confirm the gradual development of ferromagnetic ordering below T_C with a nearly 100% magnetic ordered volume. Despite its low carrier density, the relation between static internal field and Curie temperature observed for Li(Zn,Mn)P is consistent with the trend found in (Ga,Mn)As and other bulk DFSs, indicating these systems share a common mechanism for the ferromagnetic exchange interaction. Li1+y(Zn1-xMnx)P has t…
In a comprehensive study, we investigate the electronic scattering effects in EuFe$_{2}$(As$_{1-x}$P$_{x}$)$_{2}$ by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. In spite of the fact that Eu$^{2+}$ local moments order around $T_\text{Eu} \approx 20$\,K, the overall optical response is strikingly similar to the one of the well-known Ba-122 pnictides. The main difference lies within the suppression of the lower spin-density-wave gap feature. By analysing our spectra with a multi-component model, we find that the high-energy feature around 0.7\,eV -- often associated with Hund's rule coupling -…
In bilayers consisting of ferromagnetic and superconducting films, the ferromagnetic film in its domain state induces inhomogeneous distribution of magnetic fields in the superconducting film. When the ferromagnetic film has bubble magnetic domains in a labyrinth structure, it has been found that the pinning of the vortices increases; hence, the critical current of the superconducting film becomes larger. Here we study the effect of parallel ferromagnetic domain structure in Nb/SrRuO3 on the critical current of Nb with current flowing perpendicularly to the domains and find that in this case t…
The pressure-temperature phase diagram of the orthorhombic ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe was determined by resistivity measurements up to $10.5~$GPa. The Curie temperature $T_C$ is suppressed with pressure and vanishes at the critical pressure $p_c\approx1~$GPa. Superconductivity is observed in both the ferromagnetic state at low pressure, and in the paramagnetic state above $p_c$ up to about 4$~$GPa. Non-Fermi liquid behavior appears in a large pressure range. The resistivity varies linearly with temperature around $p_c$ and evolves continuously with pressure to a $T^2$ Fermi-liquid beha…
The magnetic order of the localized Eu$^{2+}$ spins in optimally-doped Eu(Fe$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($\mathit{x}$ = 0.12) with superconducting transition temperature $\mathit{T_{SC}}$ = 22 K was investigated by single-crystal neutron diffraction. The Eu$^{2+}$ moments were found to be ferromagnetically aligned along the $\mathit{c}$-direction with an ordered moment of 7.0(1) $μ_{B}$ well below the magnetic phase transition temperature $\mathit{T_{C}}$ = 17 K. No evidence of the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural phase transition was found in this compound within the experimental unc…
Superconductivity mediated by spin fluctuations in weak and nearly ferromagnetic metals is studied close to the zero-temperature magnetic transition. We solve analytically the Eliashberg equations for p-wave pairing and obtain the normal state quasiparticle self-energy and the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ as a function of the distance to the quantum critical point. We show that the reduction of quasiparticle coherence and life-time due to scattering by quasistatic spin fluctuations is the dominant pair-breaking process, which leads to a rapid suppression of $T_c$ to a nonzero v…
We investigate the physical properties and electronic structure upon Cr-doping in the iron arsenide layers of BaFe2As2. This form of hole-doping leads to suppression of the magnetic/structural phase transition in BaFe2-xCrxAs2 for x > 0, but does not lead to superconductivity. For various x values, temperature dependence of the resistivity, specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, Hall coefficient, and single crystal x-ray diffraction data are presented. The materials show signatures of approaching a ferromagnetic state with x, including a metamagnetic transition for x as little as 0.36, an enh…
Ferromagnetic single electron transistors with Al islands and orthogonal ferromagnetic leads (Co) are fabricated using ebeam lithography followed by shadow evaporation techniques. I-V characteristics exhibit typical single electron tunneling effects. Transport measurements performed in external magnetic field show that, when the two ferromagnetic leads are in antiparallel configuration, spin imbalance leads to a suppression of superconductivity.
The dependence of the critical current density j_c on the ferromagnetic interlayer thickness d_F was determined for Nb/Al_2O_3/Cu/Ni/Nb Josephson tunnel junctions with ferromagnetic \Ni interlayer from very thin film thicknesses (\sim 1 nm) upwards and classified into F-layer thickness regimes showing a dead magnetic layer, exchange, exchange + anisotropy and total suppression of j_c. The Josephson coupling changes from 0 to pi as function of d_F, and -very close to the crossover thickness- as function of temperature. The strong suppression of the supercurrent in comparison to non-magnetic \Nb…
The magnetic structure of (La${}_{1.8}$Eu${}_{0.2}$)CuO${}_4$ has been studied by magnetization measurements of single crystals, which show antiferromagnetic long-range order below $T_N$ = 265 K and a structural phase transition at $T_s$ = 130 K. At $T_s < T < T_N$, the Cu spin susceptibility exhibits almost the same behavior as that of La${}_2$CuO${}_4$ in the low-temperature orthorhombic phase, which indicates the existence of finite spin canting out of the CuO${}_2$ plane. At $T < T_s$, the magnitude of the weak-ferromagnetic moment induced by the spin canting is suppressed approximately by…
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 transi…
Transport properties of ferromagnetic/non-magnetic/ferromagnetic single electron transistors are investigated as a function of external magnetic field, temperature, bias and gate voltage. By designing the magnetic electrodes to have different switching fields, a two-mode device is realized having two stable magnetization states, with the electrodes aligned in parallel and antiparallel. Magnetoresistance of approximately 100% is measured in Co/AlO$_{X}$/Al/AlO$_{X}$/Co double tunnel junction spin valves at low bias, with the Al spacer in the superconducting state. The effect is substantially re…
We have used spin-polarized neutron reflectometry to investigate the magnetization profile of superlattices composed of ferromagnetic Gd and superconducting Nb layers. We have observed a partial suppression of ferromagnetic (F) order of Gd layers in [Gd($d_F$)/Nb(25nm)]$_{12}$ superlattices below the superconducting (S) transition of the Nb layers. The amplitude of the suppression decreases with increasing $d_F$. By analyzing the neutron spin asymmetry we conclude that the observed effect has an electromagnetic origin - the proximity-coupled S layers screen out the external magnetic field and …
An increase in the critical current and suppression of AC losses in superconducting wires and tapes with soft magnetic sheath have been predicted theoretically and confirmed experimentally. In this work we present the results of magneto-optical investigations on a series of Ag-sheathed Bi-2223 tapes with Ni coating. We visualize distributions of magnetic field at increasing external field and different temperatures, demonstrating a difference between the flux propagation in the superconductor with Ni rims and a reference sample without Ni coating.
The magnetic structure of superconducting Eu(Fe0.82Co0.18)2As2 is unambiguously determined by single-crystal neutron diffraction. A long-range ferromagnetic order of the Eu2+ moments along the c-direction is revealed below the magnetic phase transition temperature Tc = 17 K. In addition, the antiferromagnetism of the Fe2+ moments still survives and the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural phase transition is also observed, although the transition temperatures of the Fe-spin density wave (SDW) order and the structural phase transition are significantly suppressed to Tn = 70 K and Ts = 90 K, re…
Magnetic-field-angle-resolved specific heat and magnetization measurements were conducted on a ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe with remarkable anisotropic upper critical field $H_{\rm c2}$. Although $H_{\rm c2}$ reaches a high magnetic field ($\sim 20$~T) along the $b$ axis, it is small ($\sim~0.6$~T) when a magnetic field is applied along the magnetic easy $c$-axis. This study indicates that the specific heat is abruptly suppressed when the magnetic field is applied toward the $c$ axis from the $a$ and $b$ axes in the ferromagnetic state. The field response of density of states (DOS) is an…
In a Kondo lattice system, suppression of effective Kondo coupling leads to the breakdown of the heavy-electron metal and a change in the electronic structure. Spin triplet superconductivity in the Kondo lattice UTe2 appears to be associated with spin fluctuations originating from incipient ferromagnetic order. Here we show clear evidence of twofold enhancement of spin-triplet superconductivity near the pressure-driven suppression of the Kondo coherence, implying that superconductivity is strengthened by the affiliated growth of both spin and charge fluctuations. The coherent Kondo state disco…
The injection of pure spin current into superconductors by the dynamics of a ferromagnetic contact is studied theoretically. Taking into account suppression of the order parameter at the interfaces (inverse proximity effect) and the energy-dependence of spin-flip scattering, we determine the temperature-dependent ferromagnetic resonance linewidth broadening. Our results agree with recent experiments in Nb|permalloy bilayers [C. Bell et al., arXiv:cond-mat/0702461].
Magnetization, neutron diffraction, and high-energy x-ray diffraction results for Sn-flux grown single-crystal samples of Ca(Co$_{1-x}$Fe$_{x}$)$_{y}$As$_{2}$, $0\leq x\leq1$, $1.86\leq y \leq 2$, are presented and reveal that A-type antiferromagnetic order, with ordered moments lying along the $c$ axis, persists for $x\lesssim0.12(1)$. The antiferromagnetic order is smoothly suppressed with increasing $x$, with both the ordered moment and Néel temperature linearly decreasing. Stripe-type antiferromagnetic order does not occur for $x\leq0.25$, nor does ferromagnetic order for $x$ up to at leas…
We study the influence of the thickness Df of the plain ferromagnetic (F) film on the electrical resistance of the flux-coupled hybrids, consisting of superconducting (S) Al film and multilayer [Co/Pt] F film with out-of-plain magnetization. The behavior of such hybrids at high and low temperatures is found to be different: the nucleation of superconductivity at high temperatures is governed mainly by the typical lateral dimensions of the magnetic domains, while low temperature properties are determined by topology of the magnetic template. We show that an increase in the Df value leads to a b…
Coexistence of ferromagnetic and superconducting orders and their interplay in ferromagnet-superconductor heterostructures is a topic of intense research. While it is well known that proximity of a ferromagnet suppresses superconducting order in the superconductor, there exist few studies indicating the proximity of a superconductor suppressing ferromagnetic order in a ferromagnet. Here we demonstrate a rare observation of the suppression of ferromagnetic order in a LaCaMnO3 layer separated from a YBa2Cu3O7-δ layer by a thin insulator (SrTiO3). Polarized neutron reflectivity measurements on La…
We have measured the superconducting transition temperature T_c of F/S/F trilayers using Permalloy (Py=Ni_84 Fe_16) as a strongly polarized ferromagnetic material. For a parallel (P) or anti-parallel (AP) alignment of the magnetization directions of the outer ferromagnets, we observe a T_c difference as large as 20 mK, with a stronger suppression of superconductivity in the P state than in the AP state. This behavior is opposite to the recent observations of Rusanov et al., Phys. Rev. B 73, 060505 (2006) in Py/Nb/Py trilayers, but is consistent with earlier results on trilayers with Ni or CuNi…
Motivated by the recent experiment of Wang et al. [Nature Physics 6, 389 (2010)], who observed a highly unusual transport behavior of ferromagnetic Cobalt nanowires proximity-coupled to superconducting electrodes, we study proximity effect and temperature-dependent transport in such a mesoscopic hybrid structure. It is assumed that the asymmetry in the tunneling barrier gives rise to the Rashba spin-orbit-coupling in the barrier that enables induced p-wave superconductivity in the ferromagnet to exist. We first develop a microscopic theory of Andreev scattering at the spin-orbit-coupled interf…
The present paper discusses magnon-mediated superconductivity in ferromagnetic metals. The mechanism explains in a natural way the fact that the superconductivity in UGe_2, ZrZn_2 and URhGe is apparently confined to the ferromagnetic phase.The order parameter is a spin anti-parallel component ofa spin-1 triplet with zero spin projection. The transverse spinfluctuations are pair forming and the longitudinal ones are pair breaking.The competition between magnons and paramagnons explains the existence of two successive quantum phase transitions in UGe_2, from ferromagnetism to ferromagnetic super…
We study the proximity effect in hybrid structures consisting of superconductor and ferromagnetic insulator separated by a normal diffusive metal (S/N/FI structures). These stuctures were proposed to realize the absolute spin-valve effect. We pay special attention to the gaps in the density of states of the normal part. We show that the effect of the ferromagnet is twofold: It not only shifts the density of states but also provides suppression of the gap. The mechanism of this suppression is remarkably similar to that due to magnetic impurities. Our results are obtained from the solution of on…
An inhomogeneous magnetic exchange field at a superconductor/ferromagnet interface converts spin-singlet Cooper pairs to a spin-aligned (i.e. spin-polarized) triplet state. Although the decay envelope of such triplet pairs within ferromagnetic materials is well studied, little is known about their decay in non-magnetic metals and superconductors, and in particular in the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Here we investigate devices in which triplet supercurrents are injected into the s-wave superconductor Nb. In the normal state of Nb, triplet supercurrents decay over a distance of 5 nm, …
