Electrical and thermal transport in antiferromagnet-superconductor junctions

We demonstrate that antiferromagnet-superconductor (AF-S) junctions show qualitatively different transport properties than normal metal–superconductor (N-S) and ferromagnet-superconductor (F-S) junctions. We attribute these transport features to the presence of two different scattering processes in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B 2020-10, Vol.102 (14), Article 140504
Main Authors: Jakobsen, Martin F., Naess, Kristian B., Dutta, Paramita, Brataas, Arne, Qaiumzadeh, Alireza
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiferromagnetism
Condensed matter physics
Electrical junctions
Ferromagnetism
Magnetic properties
Magnetoresistance
Magnetoresistivity
Retroreflection
Specular reflection
Spin-orbit interactions
Superconductor junctions
Transport properties
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Summary:We demonstrate that antiferromagnet-superconductor (AF-S) junctions show qualitatively different transport properties than normal metal–superconductor (N-S) and ferromagnet-superconductor (F-S) junctions. We attribute these transport features to the presence of two different scattering processes in AF-S junctions, i.e., specular reflection of holes and retroreflection of electrons. Using the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism, we find that the electrical and thermal conductances depend nontrivially on antiferromagnetic exchange strength, voltage, and temperature bias. Furthermore, we show that the interplay between the Néel vector direction and the interfacial Rashba spin-orbit coupling leads to a large anisotropic magnetoresistance. The unusual transport properties make AF-S interfaces unique among the traditional condensed-matter-system-based superconducting junctions.
ISSN:2469-9950
2469-9969
2469-9969
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.102.140504