Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: We show that a supercurrent carried by spinless singlet Cooper pairs can induce a spin accumulation in the normal metal interlayer of a Josephson junction. This phenomenon occurs when a nonequilibrium spin-energy mode is excited in the normal metal, for instance, by an applied temperature gradient between ferromagnetic electrodes. Without supercurrent, the spin accumulation vanishes in the Josephson junction. With supercurrent, a spatially antisymmetric spin accumulation is generated that can be measured by tunneling to a polarized detector electrode or by a nano-superconducting quantum interference device. We explain the physical origin of the induced spin accumulation by the combined effect of a Doppler shift induced by a flow of singlet Cooper pairs, and the spin-energy mode excited in the normal metal. This effect shows that spin control is possible even with singlet Cooper pairs in conventional superconductors, a finding which could open interesting perspectives in superconducting spintronics.
Authors: Morten Amundsen, Jacob Linder
Institution: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G2165927803
OpenAlex ID: W3008608642