Magnetic state controllable critical temperature in epitaxial Ho/Nb bilayers

We study the magnetic properties of Ho thin films with different crystallinity (either epitaxial or non-epitaxial) and investigate their proximity effects with Nb thin films. Magnetic measurements show that epitaxial Ho has large anisotropy in two different crystal directions in contrast to non-epit...

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Published inAPL materials Vol. 2; no. 4; pp. 046103 - 046103-6
Main Authors Gu, Yuanzhou, Robinson, J. W. A., Bianchetti, M., Stelmashenko, N. A., Astill, D., Grosche, F. M., MacManus-Driscoll, J. L., Blamire, M. G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published AIP Publishing LLC 01.04.2014
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Summary:We study the magnetic properties of Ho thin films with different crystallinity (either epitaxial or non-epitaxial) and investigate their proximity effects with Nb thin films. Magnetic measurements show that epitaxial Ho has large anisotropy in two different crystal directions in contrast to non-epitaxial Ho. Transport measurements show that the superconducting transition temperature (T c ) of Nb thin films can be significantly suppressed at zero field by epitaxial Ho compared with non-epitaxial Ho. We also demonstrate a direct control over T c by changing the magnetic states of the epitaxial Ho layer, and attribute the strong proximity effects to exchange interaction.
ISSN:2166-532X
2166-532X
DOI:10.1063/1.4870141