Theory of Fermi-liquid effects in high-field tunneling

Spin-Mixing Enhanced Proximity Effect in Aluminum-Based Superconductor-Semiconductor Hybrids

In superconducting quantum circuits, aluminum is one of the most widely used materials. It is currently also the superconductor of choice for the development of topological qubits. However, aluminum-based devices suffer from poor magnetic field compatibility. Herein, this limitation is resolved by showing that adatoms of heavy elements (e.g., platinum) increase the critical field of thin aluminum films by more than a factor of two. Using tunnel junctions, it is shown that the increased field resilience originates from spin-orbit scattering introduced by Pt. This property is exploited in the context of the superconducting proximity effect in semiconductor-superconductor hybrids, where it is shown that InSb nanowires strongly coupled to Al/Pt films can maintain superconductivity up to 7 T. The two-electron charging effect is shown to be robust against the presence of heavy adatoms. Additionally, non-local spectroscopy is used in a three-terminal geometry to probe the bulk of hybrid devices, showing that it remains free of sub-gap states. Finally, it is demonstrated that proximitized semiconductor states maintain their ability to Zeeman-split in an applied magnetic field. Combined with the chemical stability and well-known fabrication routes of aluminum, Al/Pt emerges as the natural successor to Al-based systems and is a compelling alternative to other superconductors, whenever high-field resilience is required.

Experimental and theoretical study of field-dependent spin splitting at ferromagnetic insulator-superconductor interfaces

We present a combined experimental and theoretical work that investigates the magnetic proximity effect at a ferromagnetic insulator-superconductor (FI-S) interface. The calculations are based on the boundary condition for diffusive quasiclassical Green's functions, which accounts for arbitrarily strong spin-dependent effects and spin mixing angles. The resulting phase diagram shows a transition from a first-order to a second-order phase transition for large spin mixing angles. The experimentally found differential conductance of an EuS-Al heterostructure is compared with the theoretical calculation. With the assumption of a uniform spin mixing angle that depends on the externally applied field, we find good agreement between theory and experiment. The theory depends only on very few parameters, mostly specified by the experimental setup. We determine the effective spin of the interface moments as J ≈ 0.74ℏ.

Superconductivity in the Surface State of Noble Metal Gold and its Fermi Level Tuning by EuS Dielectric

The induced superconductivity (SC) in a robust and scalable quantum material with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling is particularly attractive for generating topological superconductivity and Majorana bound states (MBS). Gold (111) thin film has been proposed as a promising candidate because of the large Rashba energy, the predicted topological nature, and the possibility for large-scale MBS device fabrications. We experimentally demonstrate two important steps towards achieving such a goal. We successfully show induced SC in the Shockley surface state (SS) of ultrathin Au(111) layers grown over epitaxial vanadium films, which is easily achievable on a wafer scale. The emergence of SC in the SS, which is physically separated from a bulk superconductor, is attained by indirect quasiparticle scattering processes instead of by conventional interfacial Andreev reflections. We further show the ability to tune the SS Fermi level (E_{F}) by interfacing SS with a high-κ dielectric ferromagnetic insulator EuS. The shift of E_{F} from ∼550 to ∼34  mV in superconducting SS is an important step towards realizing MBS in this robust system.

Flux flow spin Hall effect in type-II superconductors with spin-splitting field

We predict the very large spin Hall effect in type-II superconductors whose mechanism is drastically different from the previously known ones. We find that in the flux-flow regime the spin is transported by the spin-polarized Abrikosov vortices moving under the action of the Lorenz force in the direction perpendicular to the applied electric current. Due to the large vortex velocities the spin Hall angle can be of the order of unity in realistic systems based on the high-field superconductors, superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures or the recently developed superconductor/ferromagnetic insulator proximity structures. We propose the realization of high-frequency pure spin current generator based on the periodic structure of moving vortex lattices. We find the patterns of charge imbalance and spin accumulation generated by moving vortices, which can be used for the electrical detection of individual vortex motion. The new mechanism of inverse flux-flow spin Hall effect is found based on the driving force acting on the vortices in the presence of injected spin current which results in the generation of transverse voltage.

Superconducting Tunneling Spectroscopy of Spin-Orbit Coupling and Orbital Depairing in Nb:SrTiO_{3}

We have examined the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and orbital depairing in thin films of Nb-doped SrTiO_{3} by superconducting tunneling spectroscopy. The orbital depairing is geometrically suppressed in the two-dimensional limit, enabling a quantitative evaluation of the Fermi level spin-orbit scattering using Maki's theory. The response of the superconducting gap under in-plane magnetic fields demonstrates short spin-orbit scattering times τ_{so}≤1.1  ps. Analysis of the orbital depairing indicates that the heavy electron band contributes significantly to pairing. These results suggest that the intrinsic spin-orbit scattering time in SrTiO_{3} is comparable to those associated with Rashba effects in SrTiO_{3} interfacial conducting layers and can be considered significant in all forms of superconductivity in SrTiO_{3}.

Andreev bound states at spin-active interfaces

Andreev bound states are ubiquitous in superconducting hybrid structures. They are formed near impurities, in Josephson junctions, in vortex cores and at interfaces. At spin-active superconductor-ferromagnet interfaces, Andreev bound states are formed due to spin-dependent scattering phases. Spin-dependent phase shifts are an important ingredient for the generation of triplet Cooper pairs in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrid structures. Spectroscopy of Andreev bound states is a powerful probe of superconducting order parameter symmetry, as well as spin-dependent interface scattering and the triplet proximity effect.This article is part of the theme issue 'Andreev bound states'.

Observation of Thermoelectric Currents in High-Field Superconductor-Ferromagnet Tunnel Junctions

We report on the experimental observation of spin-dependent thermoelectric currents in superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions in high magnetic fields. The thermoelectric signals are due to a spin-dependent lifting of the particle-hole symmetry, and are found to be in excellent agreement with recent theoretical predictions. The maximum Seebeck coefficient inferred from the data is about -100  μV/K, much larger than commonly found in metallic structures. Our results directly prove the coupling of spin and heat transport in high-field superconductors.

Spin-polarized supercurrents for spintronics: a review of current progress

During the past 15 years a new field has emerged, which combines superconductivity and spintronics, with the goal to pave a way for new types of devices for applications combining the virtues of both by offering the possibility of long-range spin-polarized supercurrents. Such supercurrents constitute a fruitful basis for the study of fundamental physics as they combine macroscopic quantum coherence with microscopic exchange interactions, spin selectivity, and spin transport. This report follows recent developments in the controlled creation of long-range equal-spin triplet supercurrents in ferromagnets and its contribution to spintronics. The mutual proximity-induced modification of order in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrid structures introduces in a natural way such evasive phenomena as triplet superconductivity, odd-frequency pairing, Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov pairing, long-range equal-spin supercurrents, [Formula: see text]-Josephson junctions, as well as long-range magnetic proximity effects. All these effects were rather exotic before 2000, when improvements in nanofabrication and materials control allowed for a new quality of hybrid structures. Guided by pioneering theoretical studies, experimental progress evolved rapidly, and since 2010 triplet supercurrents are routinely produced and observed. We have entered a new stage of studying new phases of matter previously out of our reach, and of merging the hitherto disparate fields of superconductivity and spintronics to a new research direction: super-spintronics.

Interplay of magnetic and superconducting proximity effects in ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet trilayers

We present theoretical results on the interplay of magnetic and superconducting orders in diffusive ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet trilayers. The induced triplet superconducting correlations throughout the trilayer lead to an induced spin magnetization. We include self-consistency of the order parameter in the superconducting layer at arbitrary temperatures, arbitrary interface transparency, and any relative orientation of the exchange fields in the two ferromagnets. We propose to use the torque on the trilayer in an external magnetic field as a probe of the presence of triplet correlations in the superconducting phase.