Interplay between spin-relaxation and Andreev reflection in ferromagnetic wires with superconducting contacts

Vladimir I. Fal’ko; A. F. Volkov; C. Lambert

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.60.15394

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Interplay between spin-relaxation and Andreev reflection in ferromagnetic wires with superconducting contacts

Vladimir I. Fal’ko, A. F. Volkov, C. Lambert

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.60.15394 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

We analyze the change in the resistance of a junction between a diffusive ferromagnetic (F) wire and normal-metal electrode, due to the onset of superconductivity (S) in the latter and a double Andreev scattering process leading to a complete internal reflection of a large fraction of the spin-polarized electrons back into the ferromagnet. The superconducting transition results in an additional contact resistance arising from the necessity to match the spin-polarized current in F wire to the spinless current in S reservoir, which is comparable to the resistance of a piece of a F wire with the length equal to the spin-relaxation length.