Mechanisms of normal reflection at metal interfaces studied by Andreev-reflection spectroscopy

Suppressed Andreev Reflection at the Normal-Metal / Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5 Interface

In order to probe the order parameter symmetry of the heavy-fermion superconductor (HFS) CeCoIn5, we employ point-contact spectroscopy, where dynamic conductance spectra are taken from a nano-scale junction between a normal-metal (N) Au tip and a single crystal of CeCoIn5. The point-contact junction (PCJ) is formed on a single crystal surface with two crystallographic orientations, (001) and (1...

Electrostatic Interactions of Fluorescent Molecules with Dielectric Interfaces Studied by Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy

Electrostatic interactions between dielectric surfaces and different fluorophores used in ultrasensitive fluorescence microscopy are investigated using objective-based Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (TIR-FCS). The interfacial dynamics of cationic rhodamine 123 and rhodamine 6G, anionic/dianionic fluorescein, zwitterionic rhodamine 110 and neutral ATTO 488 are mo...

Andreev-reflection and Point-contact Spectroscopy of Superconducting Rare Earth Transition Metal Borocarbides

Probing Ferromagnets with Andreev Reflection

High transmissivity, ferromagnet-superconductor thin film nanocontacts are studied experimentally. Compared to nonmagnetic metal-superconductor contacts, Andreev reflection is strongly suppressed due to the spin polarization of conduction electrons in the ferromagnet. This effect is used to measure both the transparency of the interface and spin polarization of the direct current in the ferroma...

Metal interface formation studied by high-energy reflection energy loss spectroscopy and electron Rutherford backscattering

We demonstrate that high-energy, high-resolution reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy can provide unique insights into interface formation, especially for the case where an extended interface is formed. By changing the geometry and/or electron energy the electronic structure can be probed over a range of thicknesses (from 10s of Å to more than 1000 Å). At the same time one resolves the ...