Abstract
We study the proximity effect between conventional superconductor and magnetic normal metal with a spin-orbit interaction of the Rashba type. Using the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory and the quasiclassical Eilenberger approach it is demonstrated that the Josephson junction with such a metal as a weak link has a special nonsinusoidal current-phase relation. The ground state of this junction is characterized by the finite phase difference , which is proportional to the strength of the spin-orbit interaction and the exchange field in the normal metal. The proposed mechanism of the junction formation gives a direct coupling between the superconducting current and the magnetic moment in the weak link. Therefore the junctions open interesting perspectives for the superconducting spintronics.
- Received 14 April 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.107005
©2008 American Physical Society