Superconducting Spin Switch with Infinite Magnetoresistance Induced by an Internal Exchange Field

• Main Authors: Li, Bin (Contributor), Roschewsky, Niklas (Contributor), Assaf, Badih A. (Author), Eich, Marius (Contributor), Epstein-Martin, Marguerite (Contributor), Heiman, D. (Author), Muenzenberg, Markus G. (Author), Moodera, Jagadeesh (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics (Contributor), Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society, 2013-05-14T15:33:48Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

A theoretical prediction by de Gennes suggests that the resistance in a FI/S/FI (where FI is a ferromagnetic insulator, and S is a superconductor) structure will depend on the magnetization direction of the two FI layers. We report a magnetotransport measurement in a EuS/Al/EuS structure, showing that an infinite magnetoresistance can be produced by tuning the internal exchange field at the FI/S interface. This proximity effect at the interface can be suppressed by an Al[subscript 2]O[subscript 3] barrier as thin as 0.3 nm, showing the extreme confinement of the interaction to the interface giving rise to the demonstrated phenomena.
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1207469)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-0907007)
United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-09-1-0177)
United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-13-1-0301)
MIT Center for Excitonics
United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Office of Science DE-SC0001088)