Andreev current and subgap conductance of spin-valve SFF structures

Abstract

The Andreev current and the subgap conductance in a superconductor/ insulator/ ferromagnet (SIF) structure in the presence of a small spin-splitting field show novel interesting features (A. Ozaeta et al., Phys. Rev. B 86, 060509(R), 2012). For example, the Andreev current at zero temperature can be enhanced by a spin-splitting field h, smaller than the superconducting gap, as has been recently reported by the authors. Also at finite temperatures the Andreev current has a peak for values of the spin-splitting field close to the superconducting gap. Finally, the differential subgap conductance at low temperatures shows a peak at the bias voltage eV = h. In this paper we investigate the Andreev current and the subgap conductance in SFF structures with arbitrary direction of magnetization of the F layers. We show that all aforementioned features occur now at the value of the "effective field", which is the field acting on the Cooper pairs in the multi-domain ferromagnetic region, averaged over the decay length of the superconducting condensate into a ferromagnet. We also briefly discuss the heat transport and electron cooling in the considered structures.