  In superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) heterostructures, the exchange field
$h_{ex}$ of the F-layer suppresses the superconducting order parameter in the
S-layer via the proximity effect. One issue in current research is the effect
of a domain state, or, more generally, different directions of $h_{ex}$, on the
superconductivity. We used a pulsed-current technique in order to measure the
superconducting transport properties of Cu$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$/Nb/Cu$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$
($x$ = 0.54) F/S/F trilayers structured in strips of about 2 $\mu$m wide and 20
$\mu$m long as function of a small in-plane magnetic field. We find that the
depairing current is tied to the magnetization behavior. In particular, we show
that the suppression of superconductivity in the S-layer is smallest when the
external magnetic field equals the coercive field H$_{c}$ of the F-layers.

Superconductivity