Picosecond superconductivity-driven spin-torques

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Superconducting logic holds the promise of significant improvement compared to traditional semiconductor logic, both in terms of computational power and energy consumption, due to the lack of ohmic losses when transferring bits. However, most of these advantages are negated by the lack of a suitable cryogenic memory that can be coupled to the superconducting logic. The ambition of superconducting spintronics is to develop a superconducting memory by integrating magnetic and superconducting elements. Recent discoveries have shown new routes for superconductivity and magnetism to co-operate, enabling new device concepts based on the interplay between spin, charge and superconducting phase coherence. This includes the demonstration of ultra-low energy magnetic read-out in the superconducting equivalent of a giant-magneto-resistance valve. The vision of PICaSSO is to achieve the picosecond switching of a magnet via torques directly originating in the superconducting correlation by exploiting two different effects: superconductor-induced magnetic anisotropy and supercurrent-induced spin accumulation. To realise this vision PICaSSO adopts time-resolved methods that will photograph the interplay between spins and superconductivity in different hybrid magnetic-superconducting structures with a time resolution comparable with their fundamental interaction time. This will enable coupling magnets and superconductors at the fastest possible timescale and will allow the first study of transient triplet correlation in s-wave superconductors. The research carried in PICaSSO will lay the foundation for ultrafast superconducting spintronics and will pave the way towards the full integration of superconducting memory and logic devices.