Layered ferromagnet-superconductor structures: Theπstate and proximity effects

Proximity Effects in Superconductor-Ferromagnet Structures

Proximity Effects in Superconductor-ferromagnet Heterostructures

The very special characteristic of the proximity effect in superconductor-ferromagnet systems is the damped oscillatory behavior of the Cooper pair wave function in a ferromagnet. In some sense, this is analogous to the inhomogeneous superconductivity, predicted long time ago by Larkin and Ovchinnikov (1964), and Fulde and Ferrell (1964), and constantly searched since that. After the qualitativ...

Proximity Effects in Ferromagnet/Superconductor Heterostructures

We review the present status of the experimental and theoretical research on the proximity effect in heterostructures composed of superconducting (S) and ferromagnetic (F) thin films. First, we discuss traditional effects originating from the oscillatory behavior of the superconducting pair wave function in the F-layer. Then, we concentrate on recent theoretical predictions for S/F layer system...

Inverse proximity effect in superconductor-ferromagnet bilayer structures.

Measurements of the polar Kerr effect using a zero-area-loop Sagnac magnetometer on Pb/Ni and Al/(Co-Pd) proximity-effect bilayers show unambiguous evidence for the "inverse proximity effect," in which the ferromagnet induces a finite magnetization in the superconducting layer. To avoid probing the magnetic effects in the ferromagnet, the superconducting layer was prepared much thicker than the...

Weak-localization-like effects in superconductor–ferromagnet–superconductor structures

We report measurements of the resistance as a function of temperature and magnetic field in structures containing a narrow (∼2 μm) ferromagnetic strip connecting two superconducting films. The low-field magnetoresistance has a general appearance similar to that expected for weak localization, but the magnitude is much too large to be accounted for in terms of this mechanism. In zero field the r...