TY - JOUR
T1 - Realisation of de Gennes’ absolute superconducting switch with a heavy metal interface
AU - Matsuki, Hisakazu
AU - Hijano, Alberto
AU - Mazur, Grzegorz P.
AU - Ilić, Stefan
AU - Wang, Binbin
AU - Alekhina, Iuliia
AU - Ohnishi, Kohei
AU - Komori, Sachio
AU - Li, Yang
AU - Stelmashenko, Nadia
AU - Banerjee, Niladri
AU - Cohen, Lesley F.
AU - McComb, David W.
AU - Bergeret, F. Sebastián
AU - Yang, Guang
AU - Robinson, Jason W.A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - In 1966, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes proposed a non-volatile mechanism for switching superconductivity on and off in a magnetic device. This involved a superconductor (S) sandwiched between ferromagnetic (F) insulators in which the net magnetic exchange field could be controlled through the magnetisation-orientation of the F layers. Because superconducting switches are attractive for a range of applications, extensive studies have been carried out on F/S/F structures. Although these have demonstrated a sensitivity of the superconducting critical temperature (Tc) to parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetisation-orientations of the F layers, corresponding shifts in Tc (i.e. ΔTc = Tc,AP− Tc,P) are lower than predicted with ΔTc only a small fraction of Tc,AP, precluding the development of applications. Here, we report EuS/Au/Nb/EuS structures where EuS is an insulating ferromagnet, Nb is a superconductor and Au is a heavy metal. For P magnetisations, the superconducting state in this structure is quenched down to the lowest measured temperature of 20 mK meaning that ΔTc/Tc,AP is practically 1. The key to this so-called 'absolute switching' effect is a sizable spin-mixing conductance at the EuS/Au interface which ensures a robust magnetic proximity effect, unlocking the potential of F/S/F switches for low power electronics.
AB - In 1966, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes proposed a non-volatile mechanism for switching superconductivity on and off in a magnetic device. This involved a superconductor (S) sandwiched between ferromagnetic (F) insulators in which the net magnetic exchange field could be controlled through the magnetisation-orientation of the F layers. Because superconducting switches are attractive for a range of applications, extensive studies have been carried out on F/S/F structures. Although these have demonstrated a sensitivity of the superconducting critical temperature (Tc) to parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) magnetisation-orientations of the F layers, corresponding shifts in Tc (i.e. ΔTc = Tc,AP− Tc,P) are lower than predicted with ΔTc only a small fraction of Tc,AP, precluding the development of applications. Here, we report EuS/Au/Nb/EuS structures where EuS is an insulating ferromagnet, Nb is a superconductor and Au is a heavy metal. For P magnetisations, the superconducting state in this structure is quenched down to the lowest measured temperature of 20 mK meaning that ΔTc/Tc,AP is practically 1. The key to this so-called 'absolute switching' effect is a sizable spin-mixing conductance at the EuS/Au interface which ensures a robust magnetic proximity effect, unlocking the potential of F/S/F switches for low power electronics.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105009605202
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-61267-2
DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-61267-2
M3 - 文章
C2 - 40595601
AN - SCOPUS:105009605202
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 16
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 5674
ER -