Hybrid heterostructures with superconducting/antiferromagnetic interfaces

We report on structural, DC, X-ray and neutron studies of hybrid superconducting mesa-heterostructures with a cuprate antiferromagnetic interlayer Ca1-xSrxCuO2 (CSCO). The upper electrode was bilayer Nb/Au superconductor and copper oxide superconductor YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) was the bottom electrode. It was experimentally shown that during the epitaxial growth of the two films YBCO and CSCO a charge carrier doping takes place in the CSCO interlayer with a depth about 20 nm. The conductivity of the doped part of CSCO layer is close to the metal type, while the reference CSCO film, deposited directly on NdGaO3 substrate, behaves as Mott insulator with the hopping conductivity. The interface Au/CSCO is clearly seen on bright-field image of the cross-section of heterostructure and gives the main contribution to the total resistance of mesa-heterostructure.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure

Magnetic proximity effect at interface between a cuprate superconductor and an oxide spin valve

Heterostructures consisting of a cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O7x and a ruthenate/manganite (SrRuO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3) spin valve have been studied by SQUID magnetometry, ferromagnetic resonances and neutron reflectometry. It was shown that due to the influence of magnetic proximity effect a magnetic moment is induced in the superconducting part of heterostructure and at the same time the magnetic moment is suppressed in the ferromagnetic spin valve. The experimental value of magnetization induced in the superconductor has the same order of magnitude with the calculations based on the induced magnetic moment of Cu atoms due to orbital reconstruction at the superconductor-ferromagnetic interface. It corresponds also to the model that takes into account the change in the density of states at a distance of order of the coherence length in the superconductor. The experimentally obtained characteristic length of penetration of the magnetic moment into superconductor exceeds the coherence length for cuprate superconductor. This fact points on the dominance of the mechanism of the induced magnetic moment of Cu atoms due to orbital reconstruction.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

Evidence for spin-triplet superconducting correlations in metal-oxide heterostructures with non-collinear magnetization

Heterostructures composed of ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3, ferromagnetic SrRuO3, and superconducting YBa2Cu3Ox were studied experimentally. Structures of composition Au/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrRuO3/YBa2Cu3Ox were prepared by pulsed laser deposition, and their high quality was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and reflectometry. A non-collinear magnetic state of the heterostructures was revealed by means of SQUID magnetometry and polarized neutron reflectometry. We have further observed superconducting currents in mesa-structures fabricated by deposition of a second superconducting Nb layer on top of the heterostructure, followed by patterning with photolithography and ion-beam etching. Josephson effects observed in these mesa-structures can be explained by the penetration of a triplet component of the superconducting order parameter into the magnetic layers.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Novel Regime of Operation for Superconducting Quantum Interference Filters

A new operating regime of the Superconducting Quantum Interference Filter (SQIF) is investigated. The voltage to magnetic field response function, V(H), is determined by a Fraunhofer dependence of the critical current and magnetic flux focusing effect in Josephson junctions (F-mode). For SQIF-arrays made of high-Tc superconducting bicrystal Josephson junctions the F-mode plays a predominant role in the voltage-field response V(H). The relatively large superconducting loops of the SQIF are used for inductive coupling to the external input circuit. It is shown that the output noise of a SQIF-array measured with a cooled amplifier in the 1-2 GHz range is determined by the slope of the V(H) characteristic. Power gain and saturation power were evaluated using low frequency SQIF parameters. Finally, we consider the influence of the spread in the parameters of Josephson junctions in the SQIF-array on the V(H) characteristic of the whole structure.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Frequency and size dependence of ac Josephson effect in Nb/Au/YBCO heterojunctions

Abstract. High frequency dynamics of Nb/Au/YBaCuO heterojunctions on tilted NdGaO 3 substrates have been studied. The both integer and non-integer Shapiro steps have been observed at mm-wave frequencies. Unconventional dependence of the critical current and the amplitudes of Shapiro steps vs. applied microwave power have been registered. Observed behavior deviates from existing theories of Josephson effect for junctions made from conventional or d-wave superconductors. Although the maximal size of the heterojunctions was smaller than the Josephson penetration depth, calculated from an averaged value of the critical current density, the experimental magnetic field dependences I C (H) deviate from the Fraunhofer pattern, pointing on non-uniform distribution of superconducting current density. Experimental results could be speculatively explained by origination of self-induced fractional magnetic vortices, which may take place in a junction where the amplitude and the phase of superconducting current alternate significantly over the junction area. Introducing a new lengthscale, which is much smaller than the Josephson penetration depth, the fractional vortices are considered, modifying the high frequency dynamics, namely the ac Josephson effect. Experimental results have been analyzed taking into account the second harmonic of superconducting current-phase relation and the influence of heterojunction capacitance. Introduction It is known that in metal-oxide superconductors with high critical temperature, for example in YBCO, the d-wave symmetry of superconducting order parameter (D-superconductor) is predominant one in the basal (a-b) plan