cmp-seminars

Special CMP Seminar: Superconducting spintronics: from earliest results to current challenges

09 Nov 2023
Public talks and lectures
Time
Venue
Simpkins Lee Seminar Room
Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Speaker(s)

Angelo Di Bernardo, Universität Konstanz, Department of Physics, Konstanz, Germany/University of Salerno, Dipartimento di Fisica “E. R. Caianiello”, Salerno, Italy

 

The generation of spin-polarized (spin-triplet) Cooper pairs of electrons at the interface between superconductor (S) and ferromagnet (F) materials has been demonstrated by various groups over the past two decades [1-5]. These experiments have paved the way for the research field currently known as superconducting spintronics (superspintronics) – which aims at exploiting spin-triplet superconducting currents in S/F hybrids to do spintronics with low-energy dissipation.

Technological applications based on superspintronics, however, appear still difficult to develop. One reason for this is because spin-triplet pairs must be driven out of equilibrium to do work such as, for example, exerting spin-transfer torque on a F. A second reason is related to the limited number of functionalities and forms of control which superspintronic devices currently have. 

In this talk, I will describe the current challenges and open questions that superspintronics is facing. I will then present some recent results obtained by our group that suggest the possibility of generating spin-triplet pairs using material systems different the conventional three-dimensional (3D) S/F thin film multilayers used to date. The superspintronic systems that we are investigating include chiral molecules coupled to S materials [6] and van der Waals S/F heterostructures [7]. These systems are not only interesting from a fundamental point of view, but also because they can help engineer superspintronic devices with novel functionalities and forms of control.

References

  1. J. Linder, J. Robinson, Nat. Phys. 11, 307 (2015).
  2. T.S. Khaire, M. A. Khasawneh, W. P. Pratt, Jr. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 137002 (2010). 
  3. A. Di Bernardo, S. Diesch, Y. Gu, et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 8053 (2015).
  4. S. Diesch, P. Machon, M. Wolz et al., Nat. Commun. 9, 1 (2018).
  5. A. Di Bernardo, Z. Salman, X. L. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. X 5, 041021 (2015).
  6. H. Alpern, Μ. Αmundsen, R. Hartmann et al., Phys. Rev. Mater. 5, 114801 (2021).
  7. A. Spuri et al., pre-print at https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.02216 (Under review)



 

Special Angelo Di Bernardo.pdf