Jeon Kun-Rok, Hazra Binoy Krishna, Kim Jae-Keun, Jeon Jae-Chun, Han Hyeon, Meyerheim Holger L, Kontos Takis, Cottet Audrey, Parkin Stuart S P
Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Department of Physics, Chung-Ang University (CAU), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2023 Jul;18(7):747-753. doi: 10.1038/s41565-023-01336-z. Epub 2023 Mar 30.
Spin-triplet supercurrent spin valves are of practical importance for the realization of superconducting spintronic logic circuits. In ferromagnetic Josephson junctions, the magnetic-field-controlled non-collinearity between the spin-mixer and spin-rotator magnetizations switches the spin-polarized triplet supercurrents on and off. Here we report an antiferromagnetic equivalent of such spin-triplet supercurrent spin valves in chiral antiferromagnetic Josephson junctions as well as a direct-current superconducting quantum interference device. We employ the topological chiral antiferromagnet MnGe, in which the Berry curvature of the band structure produces fictitious magnetic fields, and the non-collinear atomic-scale spin arrangement accommodates triplet Cooper pairing over long distances (>150 nm). We theoretically verify the observed supercurrent spin-valve behaviours under a small magnetic field of <2 mT for current-biased junctions and the direct-current superconducting quantum interference device functionality. Our calculations reproduce the observed hysteretic field interference of the Josephson critical current and link these to the magnetic-field-modulated antiferromagnetic texture that alters the Berry curvature. Our work employs band topology to control the pairing amplitude of spin-triplet Cooper pairs in a single chiral antiferromagnet.
自旋三重态超流自旋阀对于实现超导自旋电子逻辑电路具有实际重要性。在铁磁约瑟夫森结中,自旋混合器和自旋旋转器磁化之间的磁场控制非共线性可开启和关闭自旋极化三重态超流。在此,我们报告了在手性反铁磁约瑟夫森结以及直流超导量子干涉器件中此类自旋三重态超流自旋阀的反铁磁等效物。我们采用拓扑手性反铁磁体MnGe,其中能带结构的贝里曲率产生虚拟磁场,且非共线原子尺度自旋排列允许长距离(>150 nm)的三重态库珀对配对。我们从理论上验证了在小于2 mT的小磁场下,电流偏置结和直流超导量子干涉器件功能中观察到的超流自旋阀行为。我们的计算重现了观察到的约瑟夫森临界电流的滞后场干涉,并将其与改变贝里曲率的磁场调制反铁磁纹理联系起来。我们的工作利用能带拓扑来控制单个手性反铁磁体中自旋三重态库珀对的配对幅度。