Field-induced spin mixing in ultrathin superconducting Al and Be films in high parallel magnetic fields

Abstract

We report spin-dependent electron density of states (DOS) studies of ultra-thin superconducting Al and Be films in high parallel magnetic fields. Superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunneling spectra are presented in which both the film and the counterelectrode are in the paramagnetic limit. This SIS configuration is exquisitely sensitive to spin mixing and/or spin flip processes which are manifest as DOS singularities at eV = 2Delta +- eV_z. Both our Al and Be data show a well defined subgap peak whose magnitude grows dramatically as the parallel critical field is approached. Though this feature has previously been attributed to spin-orbit scattering, it is more consistent with fluctuations into a field induced mixed-spin state.