arXiv subjects

Jacob Linder

Publications and source records attributed to Jacob Linder.

194 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Superconducting/ferromagnetic diffusive bilayer with a spin-active interface: a numerical study

We calculate the density of states (DOS) in a diffusive superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayer with a spin-active interface. We use a self-consistent numerical treatment to make a systematic study of the effects of the Spin-Dependence of Interfacial Phase Shifts (SDIPS) on the self-consistent superconducting gap and the DOS. Strikingly, we find that the SDIPS can induce a double gap structure (DGS) in the DOS of the ferromagnet, even when the superconducing layer is much thicker than the superconducting coherence lenght. We thus obtain DOS curves which have interesting similarities with those of Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 237002 (2008).

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arXiv2008

Theory of Andreev reflection in junctions with iron-based High-$T_c$ superconductors

We construct a theory for low-energy quantum transport in normal$\mid$superconductor junctions involving the recently discovered iron-based high-$T_c$ superconductors. We properly take into account both Andreev bound surface states and the complex Fermi surface topology in our approach, and investigate the signatures of the possible order parameter symmetries for the FeAs-lattice. Our results could be helpful in determining the symmetry of the superconducting state in the iron-pnicitide superconductors.

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arXiv2008

Nontrivial interplay between superconductivity and spin-orbit coupling in non-centrosymmetric ferromagnets

Motivated by the recent discoveries of ferromagnetic and non-centrosymmetric superconductors, we present a mean-field theory for a superconductor that \textit{both} lacks inversion symmetry and displays ferromagnetism, a scenario which is believed to be realized in UIr. We study the interplay between the order parameters to clarify how superconductivity is affected by the presence of ferromagnetism and spin-orbit coupling. One of our key findings is that the spin-orbit coupling seems to enhance both ferromagnetism and superconductivity in all spin channels. We discuss our results in the context of the heavy fermion superconductor UIr and analyze possible symmetries of the order parameter by the group theory method.

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arXiv2008

Josephson current in diffusive multilayer superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junctions

We calculate the Josephson current in a diffusive superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction, where the ferromagnetic region contains multiple layers (or domains). In particular, we study a configuration where there are two layers with an arbitrary relative in-plane magnetization orientation, and also include non-ideal interfaces and arbitrary spin-flip scattering. We study the 0-$π$ oscillations of the critical current for varying junction width $d$, and find that the $π$ state vanishes entirely when the magnetic misorientation angle of the two layers exceeds a critical angle $ϕ_c$. While $ϕ_c \to π/2$ in the limit of high temperatures, we find that $ϕ_c$ becomes smaller than $π/2$ at low temperatures compared to $T_c$. 0-$π$ oscillations are also found when varying the temperature or the misorientation angle for fixed values of $d$, and we present phase diagrams that show qualitatively the conditions for the appearance of such oscillations. We also point out how one may obtain significant enhancement of the critical current in such a system by switching the magnetization for selected values of the junction width $d$, and comment on the necessary conditions for establishing a long range triplet Josephson effect.

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arXiv2008

Density of states near a vortex core in ferromagnetic superconductors: Application to STM measurements

We investigate numerically the local density of states (LDOS) in the vicinity of a vortex core in a ferromagnetic superconductor. Specifically, we investigate how the LDOS is affected by the relative weight of the spin bands in terms of the superconducting pairing, and we also examine the effect of different pairing symmetries for the superconducting order parameter. Our findings are directly related to scanning tunneling microscopy measurements and may thus be highly useful to clarify details of the superconducting pairing in recently discovered ferromagnetic superconductors.

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arXiv2008

Strongly spin-polarized current generated in Zeeman-split unconventional superconductors

We consider a thin-film normal metal/superconductor junction in the presence of an externally applied in-plane magnetic field for several symmetries of the superconducting order parameter. For p-wave superconductors, a strongly spin-polarized current emerges due to an interplay between the nodal structure of the superconducting order parameter, the existence or non-existence of zero-energy surface states, and the Zeeman-splitting of the bands which form superconductivity. Thus, the polarization depends strongly on the orbital symmetry of the superconducting state. Our findings suggest a mechanism for obtaining fully spin-polarized currents crucially involving zero-energy surface states, not present in s-wave superconductors.

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arXiv2008

The role of interface transparency and spin-dependent scattering in diffusive ferromagnet/superconductor heterostructures

We present a numerical study of the density of states in a ferromagnet/superconductor junction and the Josephson current in a superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction in the diffusive limit by solving the Usadel equation with Nazarov's boundary conditions. Our calculations are valid for an arbitrary interface transparency and arbitrary spin-dependent scattering rate, which allows us to explore the entire proximity-effect regime. We first investigate how the proximity-induced anomalous Green's function affects the density of states in the ferromagnet for several values of the exchange field. In each case, we consider the effect of the barrier transparency and allow for various concentrations of magnetic impurities. In particular, we address how the zero-energy peak and minigap observed in experiments may be understood in terms of the interplay between the singlet and triplet anomalous Green's function and their dependence on the concentration of magnetic impurities. We also investigate the role of the barrier transparency and spin-flip scattering in a superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor junction. We suggest that such diffusive Josephson junctions with large residual values of the supercurrent at the 0-$π$ transition, where the first harmonic term in the current vanishes, may be used as efficient supercurrent-switching devices. It is also found that uniaxial spin-flip scattering has very different effect on the 0-$π$ transition points depending on whether one regards the width- or temperature-dependence of the current.

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arXiv2008

Coexistence of itinerant ferromagnetism and a non-unitary superconducting state with line nodes: possible application to UGe$_2$

We construct a mean-field theory for itinerant ferromagnetism coexisting with a non-unitary superconducting state, where only the majority-spin band is gapped and contains line nodes, while the minority-spin band is gapless at the Fermi level. Our study is motivated by recent experimental results indicating that this may be the physical situation realized in the heavy-fermion compound UGe$_2$. We investigate the stability of the mean-field solution of the magnetic and superconducting order parameters. Also, we provide theoretical predictions for experimentally measurable properties of such a non-unitary superconductor: the specific heat capacity, the Knight shift, and the tunneling conductance spectra. Our study should be useful for direct comparison with experimental results and also for further predictions of the physics that may be expected in ferromagnetic superconductors.

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arXiv2008

A supercurrent switch in graphene $π$-junctions

We study the supercurrent in a superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor graphene junction. In contrast to its metallic counterpart, the oscillating critical current in our setup decays only weakly upon increasing exchange field and junction width. We find an unusually large residual value of the supercurrent at the oscillatory cusps due to a strong deviation from a sinusoidal current-phase relationship. Our findings suggest a very efficient device for dissipationless supercurrent switching.

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arXiv2008

Identifying the odd-frequency superconducting state by a field-induced Josephson effect

Superconducting order parameters that are odd under exchange of time-coordinates of the electrons constituting a Cooper-pair, are potentially of great importance both conceptually and technologically. Recent experiments report that such an odd-frequency superconducting {\it bulk} state may be realized in certain heavy-fermion compounds. While the Josephson current normally only flows between superconductors with the same symmetries with respect to frequency, we demonstrate that an exchange field may induce a current between diffusive even- and odd-frequency superconductors. This suggests a way to identify the possible existence of bulk odd-frequency superconductors.

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arXiv2008

Quantum transport in a normal metal/odd-frequency superconductor junction

Recent experimental results indicate the possible realization of a bulk odd-frequency superconducting state in the compounds CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, and CeRhIn$_5$. Motivated by this, we present a study of the quantum transport properties of a normal metal/odd-frequency superconductor junctions in a search for probes to unveil the odd-frequency symmetry. From the Eliashberg equations, we perform a quasiclassical approximation to account for the transport formalism of an odd-frequency superconductor with the Keldysh formalism. Specifically, we consider the tunneling charge conductance and tunneling thermal conductance. We find qualitatively distinct behaviour in the odd-frequency case as compared to the conventional even-frequency case, in both the electrical and thermal current. This serves as a useful tool to identify the possible existence of a bulk odd-frequency superconducting state.

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arXiv2008

Tunneling conductance in $s$- and d-wave superconductor-graphene junctions: Extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism

We investigate the conductance spectra of a normal/superconductor graphene junction using the extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism, considering pairing potentials that are both conventional (isotropic s-wave) and unconventional (anisotropic d-wave). In particular, we study the full crossover from normal to specular Andreev reflection without restricting ourselves to special limits and approximations, thus expanding results obtained in previous work. In addition, we investigate in detail how the conductance spectra are affected if it is possible to induce an unconventional pairing symmetry in graphene, for instance a d-wave order parameter. We also discuss the recently reported conductance-oscillations that take place in normal/superconductor graphene junctions, providing both analytical and numerical results.

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arXiv2008

Heat transport by Dirac fermions in normal/superconducting graphene junctions

We study heat transport in normal/superconducting graphene junctions. We find that while the thermal conductance displays the usual exponential dependence on temperature, reflecting the s-wave symmetry of the superconductor, it exhibits an unusual oscillatory dependence on the potential height or the length of the barrier region. This oscillatory dependence stems from the emergent low-energy relativistic nature of fermions in graphene, essentially different from the result in conventional normal metal/superconductor junctions.

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arXiv2007

Spin-flip scattering and non-ideal interfaces in dirty ferromagnet/superconductor junctions

We study the proximity-induced superconducting correlations as well as the local density of states of a ferromagnet, in a ferromagnet/s-wave superconductor heterostructure. We include the effects of spin-flip scattering, non-ideal interfaces, and the presence of impurities in the sample. We employ the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity, solving the Usadel equation with emphasis on obtaining transparent analytical results. As our main result, we report that in a certain parameter regime the spatial oscillations of the anomalous (superconducting) part of the Green's function induced in the ferromagnet by the proximity effect from the s-wave superconductor, are damped out due to the presence of spin-flip processes. As a consequence, spin-flip scattering may under certain conditions actually enhance the local density of states due to the oscillatory behaviour of the latter in ferromagnet/superconductor structures. We also conjecture that the damping could be manifested in the behaviour of the critical temperature ($T_c$) of the s-wave superconductor in contact with the ferromagnet. More specifically, we argue that the non-monotonic decrease of $T_c$ in ferromagnet/s-wave superconductor junctions without magnetic impurities is altered to a monotonic, non-oscillatory decrease when the condition $1>16τ_\text{sf}^2h^2$ is fulfilled, where $τ_\text{sf}$ is the spin-flip relaxation time and $h$ is the exchange field.

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