Oscillations of the Critical Temperature in a (Fe/Cr/Fe)/V/Fe Heterostructure

Abstract

The superconducting and magnetic properties of the (Fe/Cr/Fe)/V/Fe layered system with variable thickness of the chromium layer have been experimentally and theoretically studied. The magnetic properties of the system have been studied by the ferromagnetic resonance method, and the superconducting transition temperature has been measured from the jump in the magnetic susceptibility. A wide variety of magnetic states are observed in the system; in particular, the structure of small domains can arise in the iron layer placed between vanadium and chromium. It has been shown experimentally that the critical temperature T_c of the superconducting transition undergoes nonmonotonic oscillations with a noticeable amplitude in the given system with the change in the thickness of the Cr layer. The proposed model based on the proximity effect theory makes it possible to relate these T_c oscillations to the features of the magnetic structure of the samples.