The ability to apply and tune large magnetic fields locally is a crucial requirement for several devices, most notably for the detection and generation of Majorana fermions. Such a functionality can be achieved in superconductor (S)/ferromagnet (F) bilayers, where superconductivity is strengthened on top of domain walls due to local lowering of the proximity-induced effective exchange fields. By using niobium and ferromagnetic insulating (GdN) bilayers, and through detailed magnetotransport measurements, we demonstrate the phenomena of switching in and out of the domain wall superconducting phase in S/F bilayers by purely paramagnetic tuning of induced exchange fields. In the thinnest of niobium layers, we estimate that this tunability can be as high as 1.3 T with the application of in-plane external fields of a few milliteslas.

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• Domain walls
• Magnetism
• Magnetotransport
• Proximity effect
• Superconducting phase transition
• Elemental superconductors
• Low-temperature superconductors
• Magnetic insulators
• Superconducting devices
• Magnetization measurements
• Sputtering