Pt and CoB trilayer Josephson $\pi$ junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Abstract

We report on the electrical transport properties of Nb based Josephson junctions with Pt/Co${}_{68}$B${}_{32}$/Pt ferromagnetic barriers. The barriers exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, which has the main advantage for potential applications over magnetisation in-plane systems of not affecting the Fraunhofer response of the junction. In addition, we report that there is no magnetic dead layer at the Pt/Co${}_{68}$B${}_{32}$ interfaces, allowing us to study barriers with ultra-thin Co${}_{68}$B${}_{32}$. In the junctions, we observe that the magnitude of the critical current oscillates with increasing thickness of the Co${}_{68}$B${}_{32}$ strong ferromagnetic alloy layer. The oscillations are attributed to the ground state phase difference across the junctions being modified from zero to $\pi$. The multiple oscillations in the thickness range $0.2⩽d_{\text{CoB}}⩽1.4$~nm suggests that we have access to the first zero-$\pi$ and $\pi$-zero phase transitions. Our results fuel the development of low-temperature memory devices based on ferromagnetic Josephson junctions.

Main text: 11 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Supplementary information: 9 pages, 5 figures

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