Proximity effect in superconductor/conical magnet heterostructures.

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Spintronics
• Superconductivity

Background:

• Superconductor-ferromagnet interfaces can generate spin-triplet Cooper pairs.
• These pairs enable long-range proximity effects crucial for spintronic devices.
• Holmium's conical magnetism offers a tunable spin-flip potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the impact of Holmium's conical magnetic structure on spin-triplet Cooper pair generation.
• Analyze how varying the opening angle (α) and pitch angle (β) affects pairing efficiency.
• Understand the role of these angles in controlling the proximity effect.

Main Methods:

• Self-consistent solutions of Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations.
• Utilized a tight-binding model for superconductor-ferromagnet heterostructures.
• Analyzed results in the clean limit.

Main Results:

• Conical magnet interface properties significantly influence spin-triplet pairing.
• Both equal-spin and unequal-spin triplet correlations are sensitive to angles α and β.
• Specific angle combinations can optimize or suppress triplet pair generation.

Conclusions:

• Holmium's conical magnetism provides a tunable mechanism for generating spin-triplet Cooper pairs.
• Interface magnetic structure is a key factor in controlling proximity effects.
• Findings offer insights for designing advanced superconducting spintronic devices.