TY - JOUR
T1 - Angular dependence of superconductivity in superconductor/spin-valve heterostructures
AU - Jara, Alejandro A.
AU - Safranski, Christopher
AU - Krivorotov, Ilya N.
AU - Wu, Chien-Te
AU - Malmi-Kakkada, Abdul N.
AU - Valls, Oriol T.
AU - Halterman, Klaus
PY - 2014/5/8
Y1 - 2014/5/8
N2 - We report measurements of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, in CoO/Co/Cu/Co/Nb multilayers as a function of the angle α between the magnetic moments of the Co layers. Our measurements reveal that Tc(α) is a nonmonotonic function, with a minimum near α=π/2. Numerical self-consistent solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations quantitatively and accurately describe the behavior of Tc as a function of α and layer thicknesses in these superconductor/spin-valve heterostructures. We show that experimental data and theoretical evidence agree in relating Tc(α) to enhanced penetration of the triplet component of the condensate into the Co/Cu/Co spin valve in the maximally noncollinear magnetic configuration.
AB - We report measurements of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, in CoO/Co/Cu/Co/Nb multilayers as a function of the angle α between the magnetic moments of the Co layers. Our measurements reveal that Tc(α) is a nonmonotonic function, with a minimum near α=π/2. Numerical self-consistent solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations quantitatively and accurately describe the behavior of Tc as a function of α and layer thicknesses in these superconductor/spin-valve heterostructures. We show that experimental data and theoretical evidence agree in relating Tc(α) to enhanced penetration of the triplet component of the condensate into the Co/Cu/Co spin valve in the maximally noncollinear magnetic configuration.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84900494845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.184502
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.184502
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84900494845
SN - 1098-0121
VL - 89
JO - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
JF - Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
IS - 18
M1 - 184502
ER -