Physics – Condensed Matter – Superconductivity
Scientific paper
2006-12-20
Nature Physics 4, 138-143 (2008)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Superconductivity
10 pages, 9 figures, published version including supplementary material, with some typos corrected. (Submitted to Nature Physi
Scientific paper
10.1038/nphys831
Interfaces between materials with differently ordered phases present unique opportunities to study fundamental problems in physics. One example is the interface between a singlet superconductor and a half-metallic ferromagnet, where Cooper pairing occurs between electrons with opposite spin on one side, while the other displays 100% spin polarisation. The recent surprising observation of a supercurrent through half-metallic CrO_2 therefore requires a mechanism for conversion between unpolarised and completely spin polarised supercurrents. Here we suggest a conversion mechanism based on electron spin precession together with triplet pair rotation at interfaces with broken spin-rotation symmetry. In the diffusive limit the triplet supercurrent is dominated by inter-related odd-frequency s-wave and even-frequency p-wave pairs. In the crossover to the ballistic limit additional symmetry components become relevant. The interface region exhibits a superconducting state of mixed-spin pairs with highly unusual symmetry properties that opens up new perspectives for exotic Josephson devices.
Eschrig Matthias
Lofwander Tomas
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