Strain dependent selection of spin-slip phases in sputter deposited thin-film epitaxial holmium

Fraunhofer patterns in magnetic Josephson junctions with non-uniform magnetic susceptibility

The development of superconducting memory and logic based on magnetic Josephson junctions relies on an understanding of junction properties and, in particular, the dependence of critical current on external magnetic flux (i.e. Fraunhofer patterns). With the rapid development of Josephson junctions with various forms of inhomogeneous barrier magnetism, Fraunhofer patterns are increasingly complex. In this paper we model Fraunhofer patterns for magnetic Josephson junctions in which the barrier magnetic susceptibility is position- and external-magnetic-field dependent. The model predicts anomalous Fraunhofer patterns in which local minima in the Josephson critical current can be nonzero and non-periodic with external magnetic flux due to an interference effect between magnetised and demagnetised regions.

Magnetic Phases of Sputter Deposited Thin-Film Erbium

We present a detailed structural and magnetic characterization of sputter deposited thin film erbium, determined by x-ray diffraction, transport measurements, magnetometry and neutron diffraction. This provides information on the onset and change of the magnetic state as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. Many of the features of bulk material are reproduced. Also of interest is the identification of a conical magnetic state which repeats with a wavevector parallel to the c axis τ_c = 4/17 in units of the reciprocal lattice parameter c^*, which is a state not observed in any other thin film or bulk measurements. The data from the various techniques are combined to construct magnetic field, temperature (H, T)-phase diagrams for the 200 nm-thick Er sample that serves as a foundation for future exploitation of this complex magnetic thin film system.

Large Superconducting Spin Valve Effect and Ultrasmall Exchange Splitting in Epitaxial Rare-Earth-Niobium Trilayers

Epitaxial Ho/Nb/Ho and Dy/Nb/Dy superconducting spin valves show a reversible change in the zero-field critical temperature (ΔT(c0)) of ∼400  mK and an infinite magnetoresistance on changing the relative magnetization of the Ho or Dy layers. Unlike transition-metal superconducting spin valves, which show much smaller ΔT(c0) values, our results can be quantitatively modeled. However, the fits require an extraordinarily low induced exchange splitting which is dramatically lower than known values for rare-earth Fermi-level electrons, implying that new models for the magnetic proximity effect may be required.

Supercurrent enhancement in Bloch domain walls

Conventional spin-singlet Cooper pairs convert into spin-triplet pairs in ferromagnetic Josephson junctions in which the superconductor/ferromagnet interfaces (S/F) are magnetically inhomogeneous. Although much of the theoretical work describing this triplet proximity effect has considered ideal junctions with magnetic domain walls (DW) at the interfaces, in practice it is not easily possible to isolate a DW and propagate a supercurrent through it. The rare-earth magnet Gd can form a field-tuneable in-plane Bloch DW if grown between non-co-linearly aligned ferromagnets. Here we report supercurrents through magnetic Ni-Gd-Ni nanopillars: by field annealing at room temperature, we are able to modify the low temperature DW-state in Gd and this result has a striking effect on the junction supercurrent at 4.2 K. We argue that this result can only be explained in terms of the interconversion of triplet and singlet pairs, the efficiency of which depends on the magnetic helicity of the structure.