Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers
Abstract The role of spin orbit interaction in superconducting proximity effect is an area of intense research effort. Recent theoretical and experimental works investigate the possible role of spin–orbit interaction in generating spin-triplet pair correlations. In this work, we present an experimen...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98332-1 |
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| author | Kelsey B. Robbins Pukar Sedai Alexandra J. Howzen Robert M. Klaes Reza Loloee Norman O. Birge Nathan Satchell |
| author_facet | Kelsey B. Robbins Pukar Sedai Alexandra J. Howzen Robert M. Klaes Reza Loloee Norman O. Birge Nathan Satchell |
| author_sort | Kelsey B. Robbins |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The role of spin orbit interaction in superconducting proximity effect is an area of intense research effort. Recent theoretical and experimental works investigate the possible role of spin–orbit interaction in generating spin-triplet pair correlations. In this work, we present an experimental survey of thin normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers with Nb superconductor and Al, Ti, Cu, Pt, Ta, and Au normal metals, along with single layers of Nb as reference. We aim to probe the role of spin–orbit interaction and resistivity on the normal metal proximity effect through measurements of the upper critical field. We find that the upper critical fields of the trilayers are lower than that of a single layer Nb reference sample, and that the trilayers with higher resistivity metals, Ti, Pt, and Ta, behave as 2-dimensional superconductors. At low applied in-plane magnetic fields and temperatures close to the zero field transition temperature, we find a possible deviation from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional behavior in the Ti and Pt trilayers. We also find that compared to single layer Nb films, all of our trilayers show a greater suppression of critical temperature during rotation from an in-plane to an out-of-plane applied magnetic field, with the greatest suppression observed in trilayers with Au or Al. This suppression of the critical temperature under field rotation might appear analogous to the colossal spin valve effect that can be achieved in systems with ferromagnetic materials; however, in our trilayers, only conventional orbital screening contributions to the suppression are present and the additional suppression is not present in the absence of applied magnetic field. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2045-2322 |
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| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-2c9bc153fabd4ee98fef80e28689994d2025-08-20T02:17:54ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-011511910.1038/s41598-025-98332-1Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayersKelsey B. Robbins0Pukar Sedai1Alexandra J. Howzen2Robert M. Klaes3Reza Loloee4Norman O. Birge5Nathan Satchell6Department of Physics, Texas State UniversityDepartment of Physics, Texas State UniversityDepartment of Physics, Texas State UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State UniversityDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State UniversityDepartment of Physics, Texas State UniversityAbstract The role of spin orbit interaction in superconducting proximity effect is an area of intense research effort. Recent theoretical and experimental works investigate the possible role of spin–orbit interaction in generating spin-triplet pair correlations. In this work, we present an experimental survey of thin normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers with Nb superconductor and Al, Ti, Cu, Pt, Ta, and Au normal metals, along with single layers of Nb as reference. We aim to probe the role of spin–orbit interaction and resistivity on the normal metal proximity effect through measurements of the upper critical field. We find that the upper critical fields of the trilayers are lower than that of a single layer Nb reference sample, and that the trilayers with higher resistivity metals, Ti, Pt, and Ta, behave as 2-dimensional superconductors. At low applied in-plane magnetic fields and temperatures close to the zero field transition temperature, we find a possible deviation from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional behavior in the Ti and Pt trilayers. We also find that compared to single layer Nb films, all of our trilayers show a greater suppression of critical temperature during rotation from an in-plane to an out-of-plane applied magnetic field, with the greatest suppression observed in trilayers with Au or Al. This suppression of the critical temperature under field rotation might appear analogous to the colossal spin valve effect that can be achieved in systems with ferromagnetic materials; however, in our trilayers, only conventional orbital screening contributions to the suppression are present and the additional suppression is not present in the absence of applied magnetic field.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98332-1 |
| spellingShingle | Kelsey B. Robbins Pukar Sedai Alexandra J. Howzen Robert M. Klaes Reza Loloee Norman O. Birge Nathan Satchell Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers Scientific Reports |
| title | Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers |
| title_full | Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers |
| title_fullStr | Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers |
| title_short | Upper critical fields in normal metal–superconductor–normal metal trilayers |
| title_sort | upper critical fields in normal metal superconductor normal metal trilayers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98332-1 |
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