English

Spin Controlled Coexistence of 0 and {\pi} States in SFSFS Josephson Junctions

Superconductivity 2014-05-13 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Strongly Correlated Electrons Quantum Physics

Abstract

Using the Keldysh-Usadel formalism, we theoretically study the 00-π\pi transition profiles and current-phase relations of magnetic SFSFSSFSFS and SFSFFSSFSFFS Josephson nanojunctions in the diffusive regime. By allowing the magnetizations of the ferromagnetic layers to take arbitrary orientations, the strength and direction of the charge supercurrent flowing through the ferromagnetic regions can be controlled via the magnetization rotation in one of the ferromagnetic layers. Depending on the junction parameters, we find opposite current flow in the ferromagnetic layers, revealing that remarkably such configurations possess well-controlled 00- and π\pi-states simultaneously, creating a three-terminal 00-π\pi spin switch. We demonstrate that the spin-controlled 00-π\pi profiles trace back to the proximity induced odd-frequency superconducting correlations generated by the ferromagnetic layers. It is also shown that the spin-switching effect can be more pronounced in SFSFFSSFSFFS structures. The current-phase relations reveal the important role of the middle SS electrode, where the spin controlled supercurrent depends crucially on its thickness and phase differences with the outer SS terminals.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1405.0012,
  title  = {Spin Controlled Coexistence of 0 and {\pi} States in SFSFS Josephson Junctions},
  author = {Mohammad Alidoust and Klaus Halterman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.0012},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

11 pages, 6 figures. To Appear in Physical Review B