Domain wall induced modulation of low field H-T phase diagram in patterned superconductor-ferromagnet stripes

We present a systematic study of the magnetic domain wall induced modulation of superconducting transition temperature (Tc) in Nb/Ni bilayer stripes. By varying the thickness of the Ni layer from 20 nm to 100 nm we have been able to measure the low field Tc-H phase diagram spanning the Neel domain wall and Bloch domain wall range of thicknesses. Micromagnetic simulations and magnetic force microscopy measurements confirmed a stronger out-of-plane stray field in the Bloch domain walls compared to the Neel walls. A suppression in Tc was observed in the magnetization reversal region of the Ni film, the magnitude of which followed linearly to the strength of the out-of-plane stray field due to …