Superconducting critical temperature and magnetic inhomogeneities in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor trilayers

Abstract

The effect of ferromagnetic layer inhomogeneity on the superconducting resistive transition in Superconductor/Ferromagnet/ Superconductor (S/F/S) trilayers is studied. The critical temperature, Tc, and the resistive transition shape versus the F layer thickness, dF, in Nb/Cu0.41Ni0.59/Nb and Nb/Pd0.81Ni0.19/Nb trilayers were analyzed. It is shown that the Tc(dF) dependence is sensitive to the Ni concentration variation along the F layer for thickness of dF corresponding to the -superconducting state and to the 0-crossover thickness.