Non-local spin-sensitive electron transport in diffusive proximity heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantitative theory for non-local electron transport in disordered ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet structures, revealing how magnetic effects influence conductance and resistance at different energies.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical framework that accounts for magnetic effects and spin-sensitive scattering in non-local transport in hybrid heterostructures.

Findings

Magnetic effects suppress disorder-induced interference in ferromagnetic electrodes.

Spin-sensitive scattering can cause the non-local conductance to become negative at low energies.

At higher energies, magnetic effects diminish, and behavior resembles non-magnetic cases.

Abstract

We formulate a quantitative theory of non-local electron transport in three-terminal disordered ferromagnet-superconductor-ferromagnet structures. We demonstrate that magnetic effects have different implications: While strong exchange field suppresses disorder-induced electron interference in ferromagnetic electrodes, spin-sensitive electron scattering at superconductor-ferromagnet interfaces can drive the total non-local conductance negative at sufficiently low energies. At higher energies magnetic effects become less important and the non-local resistance behaves similarly to the non-magnetic case. Our predictions can be directly tested in future experiments on non-local electron transport in hybrid FSF structures.