Enhancement of superconductivity by exchange bias

In this work we study the transport properties of hybrids that consist of exchange biased ferromagnets (FMs) combined with a low-T-c superconductor (SC). Not only different FMs but also various structural topologies have been investigated: results for multilayers of La1-xCaxMnO3 combined with Nb in the form of [La0.33Ca0.67MnO3/La0.60Ca0.40MnO3](15)/Nb, and for more simple Ni80Fe20/Nb/Ni80Fe20 trilayers and Ni80Fe20/Nb bilayers are presented. The results obtained in all hybrid structures studied in this work clearly uncover that the exchange bias mechanism promotes superconductivity. Our findings assist the understanding of the contradictory results that have been reported in the recent literature regarding the transport properties of relative FM/SC/FM spin valves.