Schackert, Michael PeterScanning Tunneling Spectroscopy on Electron-Boson Interactions in Superconductors

Schackert, Michael PeterScanning Tunneling Spectroscopy on Electron-Boson Interactions in Superconductors
Author: Schackert, Michael Peter
Publisher: KIT Scientific Publishing
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2015-03-23
Genre: Physics
ISBN: 3731502380

Download Schackert, Michael PeterScanning Tunneling Spectroscopy on Electron-Boson Interactions in Superconductors Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This work describes the experimental study of electron-boson interactions in superconductors by means of inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy performed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at temperatures below 1 K. This new approach allows the direct measurement of the Eliashberg function of conventional superconductors as demonstrated on lead (Pb) and niobium (Nb). Preparative experiments on unconventional iron-pnictides are presented in the end.

Proximity in Hybrid Superconductor/ Ferromagnetic Structures

Proximity in Hybrid Superconductor/ Ferromagnetic Structures
Author: Makram Abd El Qader
Publisher:
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2016
Genre: Ferromagnetic materials
ISBN:

Download Proximity in Hybrid Superconductor/ Ferromagnetic Structures Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetic orders has been the subject of study for many years. It well known that these materials possess two competing order parameters; however the two order parameters can coexist under special circumstances inducing interesting physical phenomena. In recent years the demand of ultra-low-power, high density cryogenic memories has brought considerable interest to integrate superconducting and magnetic thin films in one structure to produce novel memory elements. The operation of the device depends on the unusual electronic properties associated with the Superconductor (S) /Ferromagnetic (F) proximity effect. Niobium (Nb) based Josephson junction devices were fabricated with barriers containing two ferromagnetic layers separated by a normal metal space layer. In device operation, electrons in the superconductor are injected into the ferromagnets, causing the superconductor wavefunction to shift its phase and decay in amplitude. Such devices have two different states that depend on the relative magnetization of their ferromagnetic barrier layers, parallel or antiparallel. In these different states, the junctions have different phase shifts and critical currents. Superconducting circuits containing these devices can be designed to operate as memory cells using either one of these outputs. To quantify the shift in phase and amplitude decay of the wavefunction through a common ferromagnet, permalloy, a series of Nb/permalloy/Nb Josephson junctions with varying ferromagnetic layer thicknesses were fabricated. Data have shown that the optimal thickness of a fixed layer composed of permalloy is 2.4 nm, as it shifts the wavefunction phase to Ï0/2, its 0́−pivot point.0́+ If set to precisely this value, the free layer in SFNF'S junctions will switch the junction into either the 0 or Ï0 state depending on its magnetic orientation. To minimize the free-layer switching energy dilute Cu-permalloy alloy [Cu0.7(Ni80Fe20)0.3] with a low magnetic saturation (Ms of ~80 emu/cm3) was used as the free layer. These devices exhibit switching energies at small magnetic fields, demonstrating their potential use for low power non-volatile memory for superconductor circuits. Lastly, to study the proximity effect using other potentially-useful ferromagnetic layers, measurements were performed on Nb/F bilayers and Nb/F/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions with ferromagnets Ni8Fe19, Ni65Fe15Co20, and Pd1-xNix. The dependence of the critical temperature of the bilayers and density of states that propagated through the ferromagnetic layer were studied as a function of thickness. From this study, crucial magnetic and electrical parameters like magnetic coherence lengths (ÎlF), exchange energy (Eex), and the rate of shift in the wavefunction0́9s phase and amplitude as a function of thickness were determined.

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Measurements of Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrids

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Measurements of Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrids
Author: Steven Alan Moore
Publisher:
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

Download Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Measurements of Superconductor/Ferromagnet Hybrids Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The focus of this thesis work is the study of the nanoscale electronic properties of magnetically coupled superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (LT-STM/STS) under ultra-high vacuum conditions. There are a number of novel effects that can occur due to the non-homogenous magnetic field from the ferromagnet, which directly influence the global and local superconducting properties. These effects include the generation of vortices/anti-vortices by the non-uniform magnetic stray field, local modulations in the critical temperature, filamentary superconductivity close to the transition temperature, and superconducting channels that can be controlled by external magnetic fields. Prior to this dissertation the subject of superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures has been mainly studied using global measurements (such as transport and magnetization) or scanning probe techniques that are sensitive to the magnetic field. Scanning tunneling microscopy probes the local electronic density of states with atomic resolution, and therefore is the only technique that can study the emergence of superconductivity on the length scale of the coherence length. The novel results presented in this dissertation show that magnetically coupled superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures offer the possibility to control and tune the strength and location of superconductivity and superconducting vortices, which has potential for promising technological breakthroughs in computing and power applications.