Paramagnetic Meissner effect depending on superconducting thickness in Co/Nb multilayers

Paramagnetic Meissner Effect (PME) was observed in Co/Nb/Co trilayers and multilayers. Measurements of the response to perpendicular external field near the superconducting transition temperature were carried out for various Nb thicknesses. PME was found only when layer thickness is no smaller than penetration depth of Nb. A classical flux compression model [Koshelev and Larkin, Phys. Rev. B 52, 13559 (1995)] was used to explain our data. We inferred that the penetration depth was a critical length, below which superconducting current density became too small and the PME could not be achieved.