Spin-resolved tunneling studies of the exchange field in EuS/Al bilayers.

We use spin-resolved electron tunneling to study the exchange field in the Al component of EuS/Al bilayers, in both the superconducting and normal-state phases of the Al. Contrary to expectation, we show that the exchange field H(ex) is a nonlinear function of applied field, even in applied fields that are well beyond the EuS coercive field. Furthermore, the magnitude H(ex) is unaffected by the superconducting phase. In addition, H(ex) decreases significantly with increasing temperature in the temperature range of 0.1-1 K. We discuss these results in the context of recent theories of generalized spin-dependent boundary conditions at a superconductor-ferromagnet interface.