Magnetic exchange fields and domain wall superconductivity at an all-oxide superconductor / ferromagnet insulator interface

TL;DR

This study demonstrates magnetic exchange field effects at an all-oxide superconductor/ferromagnet insulator interface involving high-temperature d-wave superconductor PCCO and PCMO, with implications for oxide-based superconducting spintronics.

Contribution

It reports the first observation of magnetic exchange fields at an all-oxide S/FI interface with a high-temperature superconductor, highlighting interface localization and domain wall influence.

Findings

Magnetic exchange field localized at the PCCO/PCMO interface.

Exchange field magnitude varies with magnetic domain walls in PCMO.

Potential for all-oxide superconducting spintronic devices.

Abstract

At a superconductor-ferromagnet (S/F) interface, the F layer can introduce a magnetic exchange field within the S layer, which acts to locally spin split the superconducting density of states. The effect of magnetic exchange fields on superconductivity has been thoroughly explored at S-ferromagnet insulator (S/FI) interfaces for isotropic s-wave S and a thickness that is smaller than the superconducting coherence length. Here we report a magnetic exchange field effect at an all-oxide S/FI interface involving the anisotropic d-wave high temperature superconductor praseodymium cerium copper oxide (PCCO) and the FI praseodymium calcium manganese oxide (PCMO). The magnetic exchange field in PCCO, detected via magnetotransport measurements through the superconducting transition, is localized to the PCCO/PCMO interface with an average magnitude that depends on the presence or absence of magnetic domain walls in PCMO. The results are promising for the development of all-oxide superconducting spintronic devices involving unconventional pairing and high temperature superconductors.