Work

Superconducting phase domains for memory applications

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: In this work, we study theoretically the properties of S-F/N-sIS type Josephson junctions in the frame of the quasiclassical Usadel formalism. The structure consists of two superconducting electrodes (S), a tunnel barrier (I), a combined normal metal/ferromagnet (N/F) interlayer, and a thin superconducting film (s). We demonstrate the breakdown of a spatial uniformity of the superconducting order in the s-film and its decomposition into domains with a phase shift π. The effect is sensitive to the thickness of the s layer and the widths of the F and N films in the direction along the sIS interface. We predict the existence of a regime where the structure has two energy minima and can be switched between them by an electric current injected laterally into the structure. The state of the system can be non-destructively read by an electric current flowing across the junction.

Source: Applied Physics Letters

DOI: 10.1063/1.4940440

Authors: S. V. Bakurskiy, N. V. Klenov, I. I. Soloviev, M. Yu. Kupriyanov, A. A. Golubov

Institutions: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, University of Twente

Language: English

Topic: Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism

Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Russian Science Foundation

Award: G3199726470