Interplay Between Ferromagnetism and Superconductivity

This chapter presents results on transport properties of hybrid structures where the interplay between ferromagnetism and superconductivity plays a central role. In particular, the appearance of so-called odd-frequency pairing in such structures is investigated in detail. The basic physics of superconductivity in such structures is presented, and the quasiclassical theory of Greens functions with appropriate boundary conditions is given. Results for superconductor∣ferromagnet bilayers as well as magnetic Josephson junctions and spin valves are presented. Further phenomena that are studied include transport in the presence of inhomogenous magnetic textures, spin-Josephon effect, and crossed Andreev reflection. We also investigate the possibility of intrinsic coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity, as reported in a series of uranium-based heavy-fermion compounds. The nature of such a coexistence and the resulting superconducting order parameter is discussed along with relevant experimental results. We present a thermodynamic treatment for a model of a ferromagnetic supercondcutor and moreover suggest ways to experimentally determine the pairing symmetry of the superconducting gap, in particular by means of conductance spectroscopy.