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<p>In 1966, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes proposed a non-volatile mechanism for switching superconductivity on and off in a magnetic device. This involved a superconductor (S) sandwiched between ferromagnetic (F) insulators in which the net magnetic exchange field could be controlled through the magnetisation-orientation of the F layers. Because superconducting switches are attractive for a range of applications, extensive studies have been carried out on F/S/F structures. Although these have demonstrated a sensitivity of the superconducting critical temperature (<i>T</i><sub>c</sub>) to parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetisation-orientations of the F layers, corresponding shifts in <i>T</i><sub>c</sub> (i.e. Δ<i>T</i><sub>c</sub> = <i>T</i><sub>c,AP</sub> <i>− T</i><sub>c,P</sub>) are lower than predicted with Δ<i>T</i><sub>c</sub> only a small fraction of <i>T</i><sub>c,AP</sub>, precluding the development of applications. Here, we report EuS/Au/Nb/EuS structures where EuS is an insulating ferromagnet, Nb is a superconductor and Au is a heavy metal. For P magnetisations, the superconducting state in this structure is quenched down to the lowest measured temperature of 20 mK meaning that Δ<i>T</i><sub>c</sub>/<i>T</i><sub>c,AP</sub> is practically 1. The key to this so-called 'absolute switching' effect is a sizable spin-mixing conductance at the EuS/Au interface which ensures a robust magnetic proximity effect, unlocking the potential of F/S/F switches for low power electronics.</p>

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Realisation of de Gennes’ absolute superconducting switch with a heavy metal interface

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月1日

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  • Hisakazu Matsuki,
  • Alberto Hijano,
  • Grzegorz P. Mazur,
  • Stefan Ilić,
  • Binbin Wang,
  • Iuliia Alekhina,
  • Kohei Ohnishi,
  • Sachio Komori,
  • Yang Li,
  • Nadia Stelmashenko,
  • Niladri Banerjee,
  • Lesley F. Cohen,
  • David W. McComb,
  • F. Sebastián Bergeret,
  • Guang Yang,
  • Jason W. A. Robinson

摘要

In 1966, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes proposed a non-volatile mechanism for switching superconductivity on and off in a magnetic device. This involved a superconductor (S) sandwiched between ferromagnetic (F) insulators in which the net magnetic exchange field could be controlled through the magnetisation-orientation of the F layers. Because superconducting switches are attractive for a range of applications, extensive studies have been carried out on F/S/F structures. Although these have demonstrated a sensitivity of the superconducting critical temperature (Tc) to parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetisation-orientations of the F layers, corresponding shifts in Tc (i.e. ΔTc = Tc,AP − Tc,P) are lower than predicted with ΔTc only a small fraction of Tc,AP, precluding the development of applications. Here, we report EuS/Au/Nb/EuS structures where EuS is an insulating ferromagnet, Nb is a superconductor and Au is a heavy metal. For P magnetisations, the superconducting state in this structure is quenched down to the lowest measured temperature of 20 mK meaning that ΔTc/Tc,AP is practically 1. The key to this so-called 'absolute switching' effect is a sizable spin-mixing conductance at the EuS/Au interface which ensures a robust magnetic proximity effect, unlocking the potential of F/S/F switches for low power electronics.