Long-range superconducting proximity effect in polycrystalline Co nanowires

Abstract

We report experimental evidence of a long-range superconducting proximity effect in polycrystalline Co nanowires in contact with a superconducting W-based floating electrode (inducer). For electrical resistance measurements, voltage leads were connected to the Co nanowire on both sides of the superconducting inducer at a distance of 7.2 μm. We observed a 28% reduction of the nanowire resistance when sweeping the temperature below the inducer's transition temperature Tc = 5.2 K. Our analysis of the resistance data shows that the superconducting proximity length in polycrystalline Co is as large as 1 μm at 2.4 K, attesting to a long-range proximity effect. Moreover, this long-range proximity effect is insusceptible to magnetic fields up to 11 T, which is indicative of spin-triplet pairing. Our results provide evidence that magnetic inhomogeneity of the ferromagnet enlarges the spatial extend of the spin-triplet superconducting proximity effect.