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Recently introduced magnetic materials called altermagnets (AM) feature zero net magnetization but a momentum dependent magnetic exchange field, which can have intriguing implications when combined with superconductivity. In our work, we use the quasiclassical framework to study the effects of such a material on a conventional superconductor (S) in an AM/S bilayer. We discuss the superconducting phase diagram and heat capacity of AM/S while making a comparison with a ferromagnet-superconductor bilayer. Furthermore, we examine the density of states and analyze the system's response to an external magnetic field. We illustrate the anisotropy of spin-susceptibility and magnetization of AM/S by considering an external field in the in-plane and out-of-plane direction, thereby facilitating the scope of experimental detection and characterization of an AM in an AM/S hybrid system., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

Proximity effect at superconductor/antiferromagnet (S/AF) interfaces, which manifests itself as generation of Neel-type triplet correlations, leads to sensitivity of the superconducting critical temperature to the mutual orientation of the AF Neel vectors in AF/S/AF trilayers, which is called the spin-valve effect. Here we predict that the spin-valve effect in AF/S/AF heterostructures crucially depends on the value of the chemical potential of the superconducting interlayer due to the occurrence of the finite-momentum Neel triplet correlations. In addition we investigate equal-spin triplet correlations, which appear in AF/S/AF structures for non-aligned Neel vectors of the AFs, and their role in the nonmonotonic dependence of the superconducting critical temperature of the AF/S/AF structure on the mutual orientation of the AF Neel vectors. The influence of impurities on the spin-valve effect is also investigated.

An antiferromagnetic insulator (AFI) bearing a compensated interface to an adjacent conventional superconductor (S) has recently been predicted to generate N\'eel triplet Cooper pairs, whose amplitude alternates sign in space. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that such N\'eel triplets enable control of the superconducting critical temperature in an S layer via the angle between the N\'eel vectors of two enclosing AFI layers. This angle dependence changes sign with the number of S monolayers providing a distinct signature of the N\'eel triplets. Furthermore, we show that the latter mediate a similarly distinct exchange interaction between the two AFIs' N\'eel vectors., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

Spinful triplet Cooper pairs can be generated from their singlet counterparts available in a conventional superconductor (S) using two or more noncollinear magnetic moments, typically contributed by different magnets in a multilayered heterostructure. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that an S interfaced with a canted antiferromagnet (AF) harbors spinful triplet Cooper pairs capitalizing on the intrinsic noncollinearity between the two AF sublattice magnetizations. As the AF canting can be controlled by an applied field, our work proposes a simple bilayer structure that admits controllable generation of spin-triplet Cooper pairs. Employing the Bogoliubov-de Gennes framework, we delineate the spatial dependence of the spin-triplet correlations. We further evaluate the superconducting critical temperature as a function of the AF canting, which provides one experimental observable associated with the emergence of these triplet correlations., Comment: 24 pages (excluding references), 10 figures