Remotely induced magnetism in a normal metal using a superconducting spin-valve
Abstract
Superconducting spintronics has emerged in the past decade as a promising new field that seeks to open a new dimension for nanoelectronics by utilizing the internal spin structure of the superconducting Cooper pair as a new degree of freedom1,2. Its basic building blocks are spin-triplet Cooper pairs with equally aligned spins, which are promoted by proximity of a conventional superconductor to a ferromagnetic material with inhomogeneous macroscopic magnetization3. Using low-energy muon spin-rotation experiments we find an unanticipated effect, in contradiction with the existing theoretical models of superconductivity and ferromagnetism: the appearance of a magnetization in a thin layer of a non-magnetic metal (gold), separated from a ferromagnetic double layer by a 50-nm-thick superconducting layer of Nb. The effect can be controlled either by temperature or by using a magnetic field to control the state of the remote ferromagnetic elements, and may act as a basic building block for a new generation of quantum interference devices based on the spin of a Cooper pair.
Citation
Flokstra , M G , Satchell , N , Kim , J , Burnell , G , Curran , P J , Bending , S J , Cooper , J F K , Kinane , C J , Langridge , S , Isidori , A , Pugach , N , Eschrig , M , Luetkens , H , Suter , A , Prokscha , T & Lee , S L 2016 , ' Remotely induced magnetism in a normal metal using a superconducting spin-valve ' , Nature Physics , vol. 12 , no. 1 , pp. 57–61 . https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3486
Publication
Nature Physics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1745-2473Type
Journal article
Description
The authors acknowledge the support of the EPSRC through Grants No. EP/J01060X, No. EP/J010626/1, No. EP/J010650/1, No. EP/J010634/1, and No. EP/J010618/1, support of a studentship supported by JEOL Europe and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, and the support of the RFBR via awards No. 13-02-01452-a, and No. 14-02-90018 Bel-a.Collections
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