Superconductor-altermagnet memory functionality without stray fields

Abstract

A novel class of antiferromagnets, dubbed altermagnets, exhibit a nonrelativistically spin-split band structure reminiscent of the order parameter phase d-wave superconductors, despite the absence of net magnetization. This unique characteristic enables utilization in cryogenic stray-field-free memory devices, offering the possibility of achieving high storage densities. We here determine how a proximate altermagnet influences the critical temperature Tc of a conventional s-wave singlet superconductor. Considering both a bilayer and trilayer, we show that such hybrid structures may serve as stray-field-free memory devices where the critical temperature is controlled by rotating the Néel vector of one altermagnet, providing infinite magnetoresistance. Furthermore, our study reveals that altermagnetism can coexist with superconductivity up to a critical strength of the altermagnetic order as well as robustness of the altermagnetic influence on the conduction electrons against nonmagnetic impurities, ensuring the persistence of the proximity effect under realistic experimental conditions.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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