77 research outputs found
Anomalous density of states in a metallic film in proximity with a superconductor
We investigated the local electronic density of states in
superconductor-normal metal (Nb-Au) bilayers using a very low temperature (60
mK) STM. High resolution tunneling spectra measured on the normal metal (Au)
surface show a clear proximity effect with an energy gap of reduced amplitude
compared to the bulk superconductor (Nb) gap. Within this mini-gap, the density
of states does not reach zero and shows clear sub-gap features. We show that
the experimental spectra cannot be described with the well-established Usadel
equations from the quasi-classical theory.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Local spectroscopy of a proximity superconductor at very low temperature
We performed the local spectroscopy of a Normal-metal--Superconductor (N-S)
junction with the help of a very low temperature (60 mK) Scanning Tunneling
Microscope (STM). The spatial dependence of the local density of states was
probed locally in the vicinity of the N-S interface. We observed spectra with a
fully-developed gap in the regions where a thin normal metal layer caps the
superconductor dot. Close to the S metal edge, a clear pseudo-gap shows up,
which is characteristic of the superconducting proximity effect in the case of
a long normal metal. The experimental results are compared to the predictions
of the quasiclassical theory.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
A very low temperature STM for the local spectroscopy of mesoscopic structures
We present the design and operation of a very-low temperature Scanning
Tunneling Microscope (STM) working at in a dilution refrigerator. The
STM features both atomic resolution and micron-sized scanning range at low
temperature. This work is the first experimental realization of a local
spectroscopy of mesoscopic structures at very low temperature. We present
high-resolution current-voltage characteristics of tunnel contacts and the
deduced local density of states of hybrid Superconductor-Normal metal systems.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, slightly corrected versio
Inverse proximity effect in superconductors near ferromagnetic material
We study the electronic density of states in a mesoscopic superconductor near
a transparent interface with a ferromagnetic metal. In our tunnel spectroscopy
experiment, a substantial density of states is observed at sub-gap energies
close to a ferromagnet. We compare our data with detailed calculations based on
the Usadel equation, where the effect of the ferromagnet is treated as an
effective boundary condition. We achieve an excellent agreement with theory
when non-ideal quality of the interface is taken into account.Comment: revised, 7 pages, 3 figure
Determination of the cation site distribution of the spinel in multiferroic CoFe2O4 / BaTiO3 layers by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
International audienceThe properties of CoFe2O4/BaTiO3 artificial multiferroic multilayers strongly depend on the crystalline structure, the stoichiometry and the cation distribution between octahedral (Oh) and tetrahedral (Td) sites (inversion factor). In the present study, we have investigated epitaxial CoFe2O4 layers grown on BaTiO3, with different Co/Fe ratios. We determined the cation distribution in our samples by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), a well accepted method to do so, and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), using a fitting method based on physical considerations. We observed that our XPS approach converged on results consistent with XMCD measurements made on the same samples. Thus, within a careful decomposition based on individual chemical environments it is shown that XPS is fully able to determine the actual inversion factor
Density of states in SF bilayers with arbitrary strength of magnetic scattering
We developed the self-consistent method for the calculation of the density of
states in the SF bilayers. It based on the quasi-classical Usadel
equations and takes into account the suppression of superconductivity in the S
layer due to the proximity effect with the F metal, as well as existing
mechanisms of the spin dependent electron scattering. We demonstrate that the
increase of the spin orbit or spin flip electron scattering rates results in
completely different transformations of at the free F layer
interface. The developed formalism has been applied for the interpretation of
the available experimental data.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figure
Mesoscopic proximity effect in double barrier Superconductor/Normal Metal junctions
We report transport measurements down to T=60mK of SININ and SNIN structures
in the diffusive limit. We fabricated Al-AlOx/Cu/AlOx/Cu (SININ) and
Al/Cu/AlOx/Cu (SNIN) vertical junctions. For the first time, a zero bias
anomaly was observed in a metallic SININ structure. We attribute this peak of
conductance to coherent multi-reflections of electrons between the two tunnel
barriers. This conductance maximum is quantitatively fitted by the relevant
theory of mesoscopic SININ structures. When the barrier at the SN interface is
removed (SNIN structure), we observe a peak of conductance at finite voltage
accompagnied by an excess of sub-gap conductance.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, editorially approved for publication in Phys.
Rev. B Rapid Com
Superconducting proximity effect in clean ferromagnetic layers
We investigate superconducting proximity effect in clean ferromagnetic layers
with rough boundaries. The subgap density of states is formed by Andreev bound
states at energies which depend on trajectory length and the ferromagnetic
exchange field. At energies above the gap, the spectrum is governed by resonant
scattering states. The resulting density of states, measurable by tunneling
spectroscopy, exhibits a rich structure, which allows to connect the
theoretical parameters from experiments.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures (included
Proximity effects and characteristic lengths in ferromagnet-superconductor structures
We present an extensive theoretical investigation of the proximity effects
that occur in Ferromagnet/Superconductor () systems. We use a numerical
method to solve self consistently the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations in the
continuum. We obtain the pair amplitude and the local density of states (DOS),
and use these results to extract the relevant lengths characterizing the
leakage of superconductivity into the magnet and to study spin splitting into
the superconductor. These phenomena are investigated as a function of
parameters such as temperature, magnet polarization, interfacial scattering,
sample size and Fermi wavevector mismatch, all of which turn out to have
important influence on the results. These comprehensive results should help
characterize and analyze future data and are shown to be in agreement with
existing experiments.Comment: 24 pages, including 26 figure
Absolute spin-valve effect with superconducting proximity structures
We investigate spin dependent transport in hybrid
superconductor(S)--normal-metal(N)--ferromagnet(F) structures under conditions
of proximity effect. We demonstrate the feasibility of the absolute spin-valve
effect for a certain interval of voltages in a system consisting of two coupled
tri-layer structures. Our results are also valid for non-collinear magnetic
configurations of the ferromagnets.Comment: 1 TEX file, 2 Postscript files. Accepted for publication in Physical
Review Letter
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