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Applying the linearized Usadel equations, we consider the nucleation of superconductivity in multiply connected mesoscopic superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids such as a thin superconducting ring on a ferromagnet with a uniform in-plane magnetization M and a spin-active S/F interface. We demonstrate that the exchange field in F provokes a switching between superconducting states with different vorticities which may increase the critical temperature ( Tc ) of the superconductor in a magnetic field. We study the interplay between oscillations in Tc due to the Little--Parks effect and oscillations in Tc induced by the exchange field. Furthermore, we analyse the influence of long-range spin-triplet correlations on the switching between different vorticities., 11 pages, 7 figures

International audience; We review the mechanisms responsible for long-range Josephson transport in ballistic hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor (SFS) structures with the exchange field modulated in eigher coordinate or momentum space. these mechanisms are based on the suppression of the destructive interference of electron and hole waves in a ferromagnet caused by the exchange field. The interference suppression results in a slow decay of the singlet component of the pair correlation function in a ferromagnet and an increase in the Josephson current in SFS structures.

In structures made up of alternating superconducting and ferromagnet layers (S/F/S heterostructures), it is known that the macroscopic quantum wavefunction of the ground state changes its phase difference across the F--layer from 0 to PI under certain temperature and geometrical conditions, whence the name "0-PI" for this crossover. We present here a joint experimental and theoretical demonstration that the "0-PI" is a true thermodynamic phase transition: microwave measurements of the temperature dependence of the London penetration depth in Nb/Pd_0.84Ni_0.16/Nb trilayers reveal a sudden, unusual decrease of the density of the superconducting condensate (square modulus of the macroscopic quantum wavefunction) with decreasing temperature, which is predicted by the theory here developed as a transition from the 0- to the PI-state. Our result for the jump of the amplitude of the order parameter is the first thermodynamic manifestation of such temperature-driven quantum transition., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B, http://journals.aps.org/prb/

Josephson junctions with a ferromagnetic metal weak link reveal a very strong decrease of the critical current compared to a normal metal weak link. We demonstrate that in the ballistic regime the presence of a small region with a non-collinear magnetization near the center of a ferromagnetic weak link restores the critical current inherent to the normal metal. The above effect can be stimulated by additional electrical bias of the magnetic gate which induces a local electron depletion of ferromagnetic barrier. The underlying physics of the effect is the interference phenomena due to the magnetic scattering of the Cooper pair, which reverses its total momentum in the ferromagnet and thus compensates the phase gain before and after the spin-reversed scattering. In contrast with the widely discussed triplet long ranged proximity effect we elucidate a new singlet long ranged proximity effect. This phenomenon opens a way to easily control the properties of SFS junctions and inversely to manipulate the magnetic moment via the Josephson current., Scientific Reports, in press [18 pages, 7 figures]

International audience; We study the novel interference mechanism of the long-range proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor (SFS) structures in the ballistic regime. Even a small non-collinear magnetic domain near the center of a ferromagnetic weak link is shown to restore the singlet supercurrent inherent to the normal metal. The underlying physics of the effect is the magnetic scattering of the Cooper pair by the domain, which reverses total momentum of the pair in the ferromagnet and thus compensates the phase gain before and after the spin-flip scattering. The above phenomenon opens a way to easily control the properties of SFS junctions and, inversely, to manipulate the magnetic moment via the Josephson current.

International audience; On the basis of Usadel equations, we consider superconductivity nucleation and Josephson current in multiply connected mesoscopic superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids. We demonstrate that the exchange field can provoke an increase in the critical temperature Tc of the superconducting transition in the magnetic field. We study the Josephson effect in S/F composites and demonstrate that the negative sign of the critical current (π state) can be realized in such structures despite a dispersion of the distances between different segments of superconducting electrodes.

We study peculiarities of proximity effect in clean superconductor -- ferromagnet structures caused by either spatial or momentum dependence of the exchange field. Even a small modulation of the exchange field along the quasiparticle trajectories is shown to provide a long range contribution to the supercurrent due to the specific interference of particle- and hole- like wave functions. The momentum dependence of the exchange field caused by the spin -- orbit interaction results in the long -- range superconducting correlations even in the absence of ferromagnetic domain structure and can explain the recent experiments on ferromagnetic nanowires., 5 pages, 2 figures

11 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to PRA; International audience; We have studied the distinctive features of the Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) instability and phase transitions in two--dimensional (2D) mesoscopic superconductors placed in magnetic field of arbitrary orientation and rotating superfluid Fermi gases with imbalanced state populations. Using a generalized version of the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory we have shown that the FFLO states are strongly modified by the effect of the trapping potential confining the condensate. The phenomenon of the inhomogeneous state formation is determined by the interplay of three length scales: (i) length scale of the FFLO instability; (ii) 2D system size; (iii) length scale associated with the orbital effect caused either by the Fermi condensate rotation or magnetic field component applied perpendicular to the superconducting disc. We have studied this interplay and resulting quantum oscillation effects in both superconducting and superfluid finite -- size systems with FFLO instability and described the hallmarks of the FFLO phenomenon in a restricted geometry. The finite size of the system is shown to affect strongly the conditions of the observability of switching between the states with different vorticities.

On the basis of of linearized Usadel equations we consider superconductivity nucleation in multiply connected mesoscopic superconductor/ferromagnet hybrids such as thin-walled superconducting cylinders placed in electrical contact with a ferromagnetic metal. We study the interplay between the oscillations of $T_c$ due to the Little--Parks effect and the oscillations due to the exchange field. We demonstrate that the exchange field provokes the switching between the superconducting states with different vorticities and this may result in the increase the critical temperature of the superconducting transition in the magnetic field. Moreover we analyse the influence of the S/F transparency on the realisation of the states with higher vorticities., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

In thin films of anisotropic superconductors, the intervortex interaction may be strongly modified because of the interplay between the long-ranged repulsion caused by an extremely slow decay of the supercurrent induced by a single vortex line (Pearl's effect) and the attraction caused by the tilt of the vortex lines with respect to the anisotropy axes. We present a theoretical analysis and Lorentz microscopy experimental data for high-temperature superconducting cuprates which provide evidence of such interplay. Moreover we report on a theoretical prediction of a very special type of the vortex arrangement---the formation of the vortex molecules.

We consider superconductivity nucleation in multiply connected mesoscopic samples such as thin-walled cylinders or rings placed in electrical contact with a ferromagnet. The superconducting critical temperature and order parameter structure are studied on the basis of linearized Usadel equations. We suggest a mechanism of switching between the superconducting states with different vorticities caused by the exchange field and associated with the oscillatory behavior of the Cooper pair wave function in a ferromagnet., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures