Interface driven reentrant superconductivity in HoNi$_5$-NbN-HoNi$_5$ nanostructures

TL;DR

This study investigates reentrant superconductivity in HoNi$_5$-NbN nanostructures, revealing how magnetic and transport properties interplay to produce and suppress reentrant behavior in specific layered configurations.

Contribution

It demonstrates the occurrence of interface-driven reentrant superconductivity in HoNi$_5$-NbN-HoNi$_5$ trilayers and analyzes the effects of magnetic fields and vortex pinning mechanisms.

Findings

Reentrant resistance behavior observed below T$_C$ in specific layer thicknesses.

Reentrance suppressed by out-of-plane magnetic fields and current, unaffected by in-plane fields.

Transition from collective to single vortex pinning with F layers on both sides of S.

Abstract

Superconductivity (S) and ferromagnetism (F) are probed through transport and magnetization measurements in nanometer scale HoNi$_5$-NbN (F-S) bilayers and HoNi$_5$-NbN-HoNi$_5$ (F-S-F) trilayers. The choice of materials has been made on the basis of their comparable ordering temperatures and strong magnetic anisotropy in HoNi$_5$. We observe the normal state reentrant behavior in resistance vs. temperature plots of the F-S-F structures just below the superconducting transition in the limited range of HoNi$_5$ layer thickness d$_{HN}$ (20 nm $<$ d$_{HN}$ $<$ 80 nm) when d$_{NbN}$ is fixed at $\simeq$ 10 nm. The reentrance is quenched by increasing the out-of-plane (H$_{\perp}$) magnetic field and transport current where as in-plane (H$_{\parallel}$) field of $\leq$ 1500 Oe has no effect on the reentrance. The thermally activated flux flow characteristics of the S, F-S and F-S-F layers reveal a transition from collective pinning to single vortex pinning as we place F layers on both sides of the S film. The origin of the reentrant behavior seen here in the range of 0.74 $\leq$ T$_{Curie}$/T$_C$ $\leq$ 0.92 is attribute to a delicate balance between the magnetic exchange energy and the condensation energy in the interfacial regions of the trilayer.