Magnetic and Superconducting Phase Diagram of Nb/Gd/Nb trilayers

We report on a study of the structural, magnetic and superconducting properties of Nb(25nm)/Gd($d_f$)/Nb(25nm) hybrid structures of a superconductor/ ferromagnet (S/F) type. The structural characterization of the samples, including careful determination of the layer thickness, was performed using neutron and X-ray scattering with the aid of depth sensitive mass-spectrometry. The magnetization of the samples was determined by SQUID magnetometry and polarized neutron reflectometry and the presence of magnetic ordering for all samples down to the thinnest Gd(0.8nm) layer was shown. The analysis of the neutron spin asymmetry allowed us to prove the absence of magnetically dead layers in junctions with Gd interlayer thickness larger than one monolayer. The measured dependence of the superconducting transition temperature $T_c(d_f)$ has a damped oscillatory behavior with well defined positions of the minimum at $d_f$=3nm and the following maximum at $d_f$=4nm; the behavior, which is in qualitative agreement with the prior work (J.S. Jiang et al, PRB 54, 6119). The analysis of the $T_c(d_f)$ dependence based on Usadel equations showed that the observed minimum at $d_f$=3nm can be described by the so called "$0$" to "$\pi$" phase transition of highly transparent S/F interfaces with the superconducting correlation length $\xi_f \approx 4$nm in Gd. This penetration length is several times higher than for strong ferromagnets like Fe, Co or Ni, simplifying thus preparation of S/F structures with $d_f \sim \xi_f$ which are of topical interest in superconducting spintronics

Magnetic proximity effect in [Nb/Gd] superlattices seen by neutron scattering

We have used spin-polarized neutron reflectometry to investigate the magnetization profile of superlattices composed of ferromagnetic Gd and superconducting Nb layers. We have observed a partial suppression of ferromagnetic (F) order of Gd layers in [Gd($d_F$)/Nb(25nm)]$_{12}$ superlattices below the superconducting (S) transition of the Nb layers. The amplitude of the suppression decreases with increasing $d_F$. By analyzing the neutron spin asymmetry we conclude that the observed effect has an electromagnetic origin - the proximity-coupled S layers screen out the external magnetic field and thus suppress the F response of the Gd layers inside the structure. Our investigation demonstrates the considerable influence of electromagnetic effects on the magnetic properties of S/F systems

Neutron reflectometry studies of Gd/Nb and Cu30Ni70/Nb superlattices

We performed a comparative study of magnetic proximity effects in [Gd(5nm)/Nb(25nm)]12 and [Cu30Ni70(6nm)/Nb(27nm)]12 superlattices of S/F type by means of transport measurements and neutron scattering. Transport measurements have shown that Gd/Nb and CuNi/Nb superlattices shows 3D and 2D type of superconductivity respectively. In the case of proximity coupled Gd/Nb superconductor the effective thickness of the superconducting region, 300nm is enough to expel significant amount of applied magnetic field which was detected by neutron scattering. In decoupled CuNi/Nb superlattice thickness of every superconducting layer is only 27nm which is not enough to expel applied magnetic field. Our study shows how neutron reflectometry can be applied to study proximity coupling in superconducting/ferromagnet heterostructures

Influence of Dimensional Effects on the Curie Temperature of Dy and Ho Thin Films

Abstract: The role of size effects in the formation of the magnetic structure of Dy and Ho thin films in absence of epitaxial strain is studied in this work. It was found that, for Dy in the temperature range between the Néel temperature and the Curie temperature of bulk Dy and, for Ho, in the temperature range between the Néel temperature and the temperature of phase transition into the conic phase, the temperature dependences of the period of magnetic helicoid in the bulk and film metals are similar. The character of the transition into the ferromagnetic phase in the Dy films changes at lower temperatures, and the transition into the commensurable conic phase in the Ho films is suppressed. This is explained exclusively by the influence of dimensional effects. © 2021, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.Synthesis of samples and magnetometric measurements were performed at the Center of the Collaborative Access, Institute of Metal Physics, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Experimental data obtained with the REMUR reflectometer were transformed from the instrumental coordinate system into the reciprocal space coordinate system using Överlåtaren software []. This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-32-90007