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Phys. Rev. B 66, 140507(R) (2002) [4 pages]

Direct measurement of quasiparticle evanescent waves in a dirty superconductor

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J. Y. Gu*, J. A. Caballero, R. D. Slater, R. Loloee, and W. P. Pratt, Jr.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Fundamental Materials Research, and Center for Sensor Materials, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1116

Received 3 July 2002; published 23 October 2002

We have used a perpendicular-current spin-polarization detector, in the form of a Permalloy-based exchange-biased spin valve, to measure the length scale for penetration of quasiparticles through superconducting-Nb thin films under diffusive transport conditions. In the low-temperature limit, this penetration length is ∼16nm, comparable to the estimated “dirty-limit” zero-temperature coherence length of our Nb films.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.66.140507
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.66.140507
PACS:
74.25.Fy, 74.50.+r, 72.25.Ba

*Present address: Materials Science Division, Argonne National Lab., Argonne, IL 60439-4845.

 
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