Quantum transport and proximity effects in unconventional superconducting hybrid systems

Abstract

 This thesis presents some of the main findings from twenty-five research articles. These papers may roughly be categorized into three fields: i) Proximity structures of superconductors and ferromagnets, ii) Interplay between ferromagnetism, noncentrosymmetricity, and superconductivity in bulk materials, and iii)  Superconducting proximity-effect in graphene. In all of these cases, emphasis is placed on the thermodynamic properties and the transport properties of the systems. We address in particular how the spin-polarization of ferromagnetic elements may combine with the dissipationless flow of electric current offered by superconducting elements, and also how useful information about the superconducting state is revealed through characteristic fingerprints in the thermodynamic and transport properties of the systems under consideration.