Odd triplet superconductivity in a superconductor/ferromagnet structure with a spiral magnetic structure

Abstract

We analyze a superconductor-ferromagnet (S/F) system with a spiral magnetic structure in the ferromagnet F for a weak and strong exchange field. The long-range triplet component (LRTC) penetrating into the ferromagnet over a long distance is calculated for both cases. In the dirty limit (or weak ferromagnetism) we study the LRTC for conical ferromagnets. Its spatial dependence undergoes a qualitative change as a function of the cone angle θ. At small angles the LRTC decays in the ferromagnet exponentially in a monotonic way. If the angle θexceeds a certain value, the exponential decay of the LRTC is accompanied by oscillations with a period that depends on θ. This oscillatory behaviour leads to a similar dependence of the Josephson critical current in SFS junctions on the thickness of the F layer. In the case of a strong ferromagnet the LRTC decays over the length which is determined by the wave vector of the magnetic spiral and by the exchange field.

15 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. B 73 (10) (2006)

References in corpus (3)

• Effect of an inhomogeneous exchange field on the proximity effect in disordered superconductor-ferromagnet hybrid structures
• Switching superconductivity in S/F bilayers by multiple-domain structures
• Long-range odd triplet superconductivity in SF structures with Neel walls

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Manifestation of the odd-frequency spin-triplet pairing state in diffusive ferromagnet / superconductor junctions
• Josephson effect due to the long-range odd-frequency triplet superconductivity in SFS junctions with Neel domain walls
• Critical current of a Josephson junction containing a conical magnet
• Odd triplet superconductivity in superconductor-ferromagnet structures with a narrow domain wall
• 0-pi Transitions in a Superconductor/Chiral Ferromagnet/Superconductor Junction induced by a Homogeneous Cycloidal Spiral
• 0-pi transition in SFS junctions with strongly spin-dependent scattering
• Surface effects in magnetic superconductors with a spiral magnetic structure