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Spin Proximity Effect in Ultrathin Superconducting Be-Au Bilayers

X. S. Wu, P. W. Adams, Y. Yang, and R. L. McCarley
Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 127002 – Published 28 March 2006
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Abstract

We present a detailed study of the effects of interface spin-orbit coupling on the critical field behavior of ultrathin superconducting Be/Au bilayers. Parallel field measurements were made in bilayers with Be thicknesses in the range of d=230nm and Au coverages of 0.5 nm. Though the Au had little effect on the superconducting gap, it produced profound changes in the spin states of the system. In particular, the parallel critical field exceeded the Clogston limit by an order of magnitude in the thinnest films studied. In addition, the parallel critical field unexpectedly scaled as Hc/Δ01/d, suggesting that the spin-orbit coupling energy was proportional to Δ0/d2. Tilted field measurements showed that, contrary to recent theory, the interface spin-orbit coupling induces a large in-plane superconducting susceptibility but only a very small transverse susceptibility.

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  • Received 12 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.127002

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

X. S. Wu and P. W. Adams

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA

Y. Yang and R. L. McCarley

  • Department of Chemistry and the Center for Biomodular Multi-scale Systems, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA

See Also

Magnetic Protection

David Lindley
Phys. Rev. Focus 17, 12 (2006)

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 12 — 31 March 2006

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