ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Spatially varying spin-polarised superconducting currents in Nb/Pt thin films induced by spin-orbit coupling

Abstract: Below the superconducting transition in Nb/Pt bilayers, additional paramagnetic signals appear due to a spatially varying magnetisation carried by the superconducting currents. In a recent publication we quantitatively analysed our muon data within a theoretical framework involving impurity spin-orbit scattering, which generates spin triplet correlations that lead to a splitting of the quasiparticle density of states. We wish to use PNR to study the direction of this additional spin screening on either side of a single thin Pt layer, by controlling the current flow direction at each superconducting interface. Our theory makes specific predictions about this that have not yet been fully explored experimentally. The ability of PNR to probe across relatively thick layers provides good complementarity with low-energy muon experiments.

Principal Investigator: Professor Stephen Lee
Experimenter: Mr Zhiwei Cui
Local Contact: Dr Christy Kinane
Experimenter: Dr Rhea Stewart
Experimenter: Professor Gavin Burnell
Experimenter: Dr Matthew Rogers
Experimenter: Miss Evgenia Georgiadou

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520618

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520618

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Stephen Lee et al; (2026): Spatially varying spin-polarised superconducting currents in Nb/Pt thin films induced by spin-orbit coupling, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520618

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.