Hybrid superconducting-magnetic memory device using competing order parameters

Superconducting devices, which rely on modulating a complex superconducting order parameter in a Josephson junction, have been developed for low power logic operations, high-frequency oscillators, and exquisite magnetic field sensors. Magnetic devices, which rely on the modulation of a local vector order parameter- the local magnetic moment, have been used as memory elements, high-frequency spin-transfer oscillators, and magnetic field sensors. In a hybrid superconducting-magnetic device, these two order parameters compete, with one type of order suppressing the other. Recent interest in ultra-low-power, high-density cryogenic memories has spurred new interest in merging superconducting and magnetic behavior so as to exploit these two competing order parameters to produce novel switching elements. Here, we describe a reconfigurable two-layer magnetic spin valve integrated within a Josephson junction. Our measurements separate the suppression in the superconducting coupling due to the exchange field in the magnetic layers, which causes depairing of the supercurrent, from the suppression due to the magnetic field generated by the magnetic layers. The exchange field suppression of the superconducting order parameter is a tunable and switchable behavior that is also scalable to nanometer device dimensions. These devices are the first to demonstrate nonvolatile, size-independent switching of the Josephson coupling, in both magnitude and phase, and they may allow for the first nanoscale superconducting memory devices.