Transport critical-current density of superconducting films with hysteretic ferromagnetic dots

Superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids present a rich and complex phenomenology. Particularly, a hysteretic behavior on the transport critical-current density, as a function of a uniform perpendicular applied field, has been experimentally found in superconducting films with some embedded ferromagnets. Here we analyze the interaction superconductor-ferromagnets by means of an iterative model based on the critical-statemodel with field-dependent internal critical-current density and compare the results with actual transport measurements. By using arguments of field compensation, we show how the change in the magnetization of the ferromagnetic inclusions is responsible for the observed hysteresis on the transport critical current. Copyright 2012 Author(s). This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4732314]