Boosting the superconducting spin valve effect in a metallic superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructure

Superconducting spin valves based on the superconductor/ferromagnet （S/F） proximity effect are considered to be a key element in the emerging field of superconducting spintronics. Here, we demonstrate the crucial role of the morphology of the superconducting layer in the operation of a multilayer S/...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano research 2016-04, Vol.9 (4), p.1005-1011
Main Authors: Leksin, Pavel V., Kamashev, Andrey A., Schumann, Joachim, Kataev, Vladislav E., Thomas, Jürgen, Büchner, Bernd, Garifullin, Ilgiz A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic/Molecular Structure and Spectra
Biomedicine
Biotechnology
Chemistry and Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Critical temperature
Electron microscopy
F 2 region
Ferromagnetism
Green's functions
Heterostructures
Homogenizing
Magnetic properties
Materials Science
Morphology
Nanotechnology
Proximity effect (electricity)
Research Article
Spin valves
Spintronics
Superconductivity
Superconductors
Transmission electron microscopy
临界温度
异质结
自旋阀效应
超导电子学
透射电子显微镜
邻近效应
金属
铁磁
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Summary:Superconducting spin valves based on the superconductor/ferromagnet （S/F） proximity effect are considered to be a key element in the emerging field of superconducting spintronics. Here, we demonstrate the crucial role of the morphology of the superconducting layer in the operation of a multilayer S/F1/F2 spin valve. We study two types of superconducting spin valve heterostructures, with rough and with smooth superconducting layers, using transmission electron microscopy in combination with transport and magnetic characterization. We find that the quality of the S/F interface is not critical for the S/F proximity effect, as regards the suppression of the critical temperature of the S layer. However, it appears to be of paramount importance in the performance of the S/F1/F2 spin valve. As the morphology of the S layer changes from the form of overlapping islands to a smooth case, the magnitude of the conventional superconducting spin valve effect significantly increases. We attribute this dramatic effect to a homogenization of the Green function of the superconducting condensate over the S/F interface in the S/F1/F2 valve with a smooth surface of the S laver.
ISSN:1998-0124
1998-0000
DOI:10.1007/s12274-016-0988-y