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Phys. Rev. B 72, 220506(R) (2005) [4 pages]

Superharmonic Josephson relation at 0-∕π-junction transition

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M. Houzet1, V. Vinokur2, and F. Pistolesi3,2
1Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique, DSM/DRFMC/SPSMS, 38054 Grenoble, France
2Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
3Laboratoire de Physique et Modélisation des Milieux Condensés, CNRS-UJF B.P. 166, F-38042 Grenoble, France

Received 20 May 2005; published 15 December 2005

Critical current was recently measured near the transition from 0 to π-contact in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor Josephson junctions. Contrary to expectations, it does not vanish at the transition point. It shows instead a tiny, though finite, minimum. The observation of fractional Shapiro steps reenforces the idea that the vanishing of the main sinusoidal term in the Josephson relation gives room to the next harmonics. Within the quasiclassical approach we calculate the Josephson relation while taking into account the magnetic scattering. We find that the observed minimum is compatible with the value of the second harmonics expected from the theory.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.220506
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.72.220506
PACS:
74.50.+r, 74.78.Fk