Tunable critical field in Rashba superconductor thin-films

The upper critical field in type II superconductors is limited by the Pauli paramagnetic limit. In superconductors with strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling this limit can be overcome by forming a helical state. Here we quantitatively study the magnetic field-temperature phase diagram of finite-size superconductors with Rashba spin-orbit coupling. We discuss the effect of finite size and shape anisotropy. We demonstrate that the critical field is controllable by intrinsic parameters such as spin-orbit coupling strength and tunable parameters such as sample geometry and applied field direction. Our study opens new avenues for the design of superconducting spin-valves.

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article Tunable critical field in Rashba superconductor thin films L.A.B. Olde Olthof, J.R. Weggemans (Jordi), G. Kimbell, J.W.A. Robinson and X. Montiel