Spin-Resolved Tunneling Studies of the Exchange Field in EuS/Al Bilayers

We use spin-resolved electron tunneling to study the exchange field in the Al component of EuS/Al bilayers, in both the superconducting and normal-state phases of the Al. Contrary to expectation, we show that the exchange field H-ex is a nonlinear function of applied field, even in applied fields that are well beyond the EuS coercive field. Furthermore, the magnitude H-ex is unaffected by the superconducting phase. In addition, H-ex decreases significantly with increasing temperature in the temperature range of 0.1-1 K. We discuss these results in the context of recent theories of generalized spin-dependent boundary conditions at a superconductor-ferromagnet interface.