Date:
Thu, 22/11/201812:00-13:00
The New Science of Superconducting Spintronics
Jason Robinson
Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB2 1LR, United Kingdom
jjr33@cam.ac.uk
https://www.robinson.msm.cam.ac.uk/talks
Superconducting spintronics is a new field involving the synergistic coexistence of spin-polarization
and superconducting phase coherence at interfaces between superconducting and magnetic
materials [1]. This field offers radically new science for applications in spintronics for energy efficient
logic and memory and has emerged over the past decade and half following rapid developments in
the understanding of the properties and mechanisms which determine interface-coupling of
superconductivity and magnetism. The majority of experiments so far have focused on all-metallic
superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) interfaces with highlights from my group, including: spin-
polarized Cooper pair creation at magnetically inhomogeneous S/F interfaces [2]; spin-selectivity of
triplet pairs in magnetic devices [3, 4]; zero energy states at S/F interfaces [5, 6]; and enhanced spin
pumping efficiency in the superconducting state in Pt/Nb/Py devices [7].
Further to the above, I am leading an international programme with partners in Japan and
South Korea to translate the science of metallic superconducting spintronics to all-oxide materials in
order to benefit from the intrinsically unconventional pairing and higher operating temperature of
oxide superconductors. In my lecture I will overview the field of superconducting spintronics and
highlight some of my group’s recent progress, including: spin-splitting in the density of states of a
high temperature superconductor on a ferromagnetic insulator (FI) [8]; and the discovery of nodal-
mediated exchange coupling of magnetism in all-oxide FI/S/FI pseudo spin-valves.
[1] J. Linder and J.W.A. Robinson, Nature Physics 11, 307 (2015).
[2] J.W.A. Robinson, J.D.S. Witt, M.G. Blamire, Science 329, 59 (2010).
[3] N. Banerjee et al., Nature Communications 5, 3048 (2014).
[4] A. Srivastava et al., Physical Review Applied 8, 044008 (2017).
[5] A Di Bernardo et al., Nature Communications 6, 8053 (2015).
[6] Y Kalcheim et al., Physical Review B 92, 060501 (2015).
[7] K-R Jeon et al., Nature Materials 17, 499–503 (2018).
[8] S. Komori et al., Physical Review Letters 121, 077003 (2018).
Jason Robinson
Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB2 1LR, United Kingdom
jjr33@cam.ac.uk
https://www.robinson.msm.cam.ac.uk/talks
Superconducting spintronics is a new field involving the synergistic coexistence of spin-polarization
and superconducting phase coherence at interfaces between superconducting and magnetic
materials [1]. This field offers radically new science for applications in spintronics for energy efficient
logic and memory and has emerged over the past decade and half following rapid developments in
the understanding of the properties and mechanisms which determine interface-coupling of
superconductivity and magnetism. The majority of experiments so far have focused on all-metallic
superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) interfaces with highlights from my group, including: spin-
polarized Cooper pair creation at magnetically inhomogeneous S/F interfaces [2]; spin-selectivity of
triplet pairs in magnetic devices [3, 4]; zero energy states at S/F interfaces [5, 6]; and enhanced spin
pumping efficiency in the superconducting state in Pt/Nb/Py devices [7].
Further to the above, I am leading an international programme with partners in Japan and
South Korea to translate the science of metallic superconducting spintronics to all-oxide materials in
order to benefit from the intrinsically unconventional pairing and higher operating temperature of
oxide superconductors. In my lecture I will overview the field of superconducting spintronics and
highlight some of my group’s recent progress, including: spin-splitting in the density of states of a
high temperature superconductor on a ferromagnetic insulator (FI) [8]; and the discovery of nodal-
mediated exchange coupling of magnetism in all-oxide FI/S/FI pseudo spin-valves.
[1] J. Linder and J.W.A. Robinson, Nature Physics 11, 307 (2015).
[2] J.W.A. Robinson, J.D.S. Witt, M.G. Blamire, Science 329, 59 (2010).
[3] N. Banerjee et al., Nature Communications 5, 3048 (2014).
[4] A. Srivastava et al., Physical Review Applied 8, 044008 (2017).
[5] A Di Bernardo et al., Nature Communications 6, 8053 (2015).
[6] Y Kalcheim et al., Physical Review B 92, 060501 (2015).
[7] K-R Jeon et al., Nature Materials 17, 499–503 (2018).
[8] S. Komori et al., Physical Review Letters 121, 077003 (2018).