Eur. Phys. J. B (2013) 86: 482
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-40682-1

Regular Article

Spin-precession-induced currents through ferromagnet/nanomagnet/superconductor junctions

College of Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jiangsu 210016, P.R. China

^a e-mail: zpniu@nuaa.edu.cn

Received: 18 July 2013
Received in final form: 20 September 2013
Published online: 20 November 2013

Abstract

The spin-precession-induced current through ferromagnet/nanomagnet/superconductor junctions is investigated by using the nonequilibrium Green’s function method. It is found that the charge current I_c for the spin precession frequency ω less than the energy gap Δ only arises from the equal-spin Andreev reflection, which is independent of the spin polarization p of the ferromagnetic lead, while that for ω > Δ mainly originates from the quasiparticle’s contribution. Both equal-spin AR and quasiparticle scattering processes contribute to the spin current I_s and the quasiparticle scattering process plays a dominant role. While I_c for ω < Δ can be enhanced by the spin polarization p, I_s decreases with p. These features may be of interest for ongoing experiments in the field of molecular spintronics.