Evidence for Triplet Superconductivity in a Superconductor-Ferromagnet Spin Valve

We have studied the dependence of the superconducting (SC) transition temperature on the mutual orientation of magnetizations of Fe1 and Fe2 layers in the spin valve system CoO_x/Fe1/Cu/Fe2/Pb. We find that this dependence is nonmonotonic when passing from the parallel to the antiparallel case and reveals a distinct minimum near the orthogonal configuration. The analysis of the data in the framework of the SC triplet spin valve theory gives direct evidence for the long-range triplet superconductivity arising due to noncollinearity of the two magnetizations.Comment: 5 pages (including 4 EPS figures). Version 2: final version as published in PR

Decoherence due to nodal quasiparticles in d-wave qubits

We study the Josephson junction between two d-wave superconductors, which is discussed as an implementation of a qubit. We propose an approach that allows to calculate the decoherence time due to an intrinsic dissipative process: quantum tunneling between the two minima of the double-well potential excites nodal quasiparticles which lead to incoherent damping of quantum oscillations. The decoherence is weakest in the mirror junction, where the contribution of nodal quasiparticles corresponds to the superohmic dissipation and becomes small at small tunnel splitting of the energy level in the double-well potential. For available experimental data, we estimate the quality factor.Comment: 5 pages, 3 EPS figures; the style file jetpl.cls is included. Version 2: minor correction

Density of states in d-wave superconductors of finite size

We consider the effect of the finite size in the ab-plane on the surface density of states (DoS) in clean d-wave superconductors. In the bulk, the DoS is gapless along the nodal directions, while the presence of a surface leads to formation of another type of the low-energy states, the midgap states with zero energy. We demonstrate that finiteness of the superconductor in one of dimensions provides the energy gap for all directions of quasiparticle motion except for \theta=45 degrees (\theta is the angle between the trajectory and the surface normal); then the angle-averaged DoS behaves linearly at small energies. This result is valid unless the crystal is 0- or 45-oriented (\alpha \ne 0 or 45 degrees, where \alpha is the angle between the a-axis and the surface normal). In the special case of \alpha=0, the spectrum is gapped for all trajectories \theta; the angle-averaged DoS is also gapped. In the special case of \alpha=45, the spectrum is gapless for all trajectories \theta; the angle-averaged DoS is then large at low energies. In all the cases, the angle-resolved DoS consists of energy bands that are formed similarly to the Kronig-Penney model. The analytical results are confirmed by a self-consistent numerical calculation.Comment: 9 pages (including 5 EPS figures), REVTeX

Anomalous Surface Impedance due to Odd-frequency Cooper Pairs

We discuss dynamical response of odd-frequency Cooper pairs to electromagnetic field. By using the quasiclassical Green function method, we calculate the surface impedance (Z=R-iX) of a normal metal thin film which covers a superconductor. In contrast to the standard relation (i.e., R << X), the surface impedance in spin-triplet proximity structures shows anomalous behavior (i.e., R>X) at low temperatures. This unusual relation is a result of the penetration of odd-frequency pairs into the normal metal and reflects the negative Cooper pair density.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures embede