(Towards) superconducting spintronics

  • Date: Jul 14, 2022
  • Time: 03:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Dr. Martin Gradhand
  • HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol and Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
  • Location: Max-Planck-Institut für Mikrostrukturphysik, Weinberg 2, 06120 Halle (Saale)
  • Room: New Lecture Hall, Building B
(Towards) superconducting spintronics

The spin of the electron was introduced out of necessity. However, it required Dirac’s relativistic Schrödinger equation to show that far from being an unloved necessity for explaining experiments, spin was a natural part of the relativistic physics of the electron. It is Dirac’s equation which will serve as the basis for the effects I shall discuss in this talk.

Initially, the magnetic moment related to the spin was exploited in, for example, magnetic recording. However, over the last 20 years it is the coupling of spin to the orbital degrees of freedom, i.e. its relativistic nature, which has become relevant in micro-structured devices.

After a brief introduction to the spin and its relativistic couplings I will focus on two main aspects: the spin Hall effect and the effects of spin-orbit coupling in superconductors and how these give rise to new and interesting physics. I will aim to provide intuitive pictures and connect to classical analogies for these relativistic and microscopic effects. Ultimately, I will make contact between the Berry curvature of Bloch electrons as introduced via the relativistic spin-orbit coupling and its connection to topological state of matters. In all cases I will present material specific calculations including superconductivity and will explore new effects arising from the competition of magnetism and superconductivity.

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