Guided Vortex Motion and Vortex Ratchets in Nanostructured Superconductors

Silhanek, Alejandro; Vondel, J. Van de; Moshchalkov, Victor

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-15137-8_1

Cited by 21 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 117 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Within the last decade, nanostructured superconductors have received much attention [1][2][3]. They provide direct access to the manipulation of fluxons, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical transport and pinning properties of Nb thin films patterned with focused ion beam-milled washboard nanostructures

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. A careful analysis of the magneto-transport properties of epitaxial nanostructured Nb thin films in the normal and the mixed state is performed. The nanopatterns were prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) milling. They provide a washboard-like pinning potential landscape for vortices in the mixed state and simultaneously cause a resistivity anisotropy in the normal state. Two matching magnetic fields for the vortex lattice with the underlying nanostructures have been observed. By applying these fields, the most likely pinning sites along which the flux lines move through the samples have been selected. By this, either the background isotropic pinning of the pristine film or the enhanced isotropic pinning originating from the nanoprocessing have been probed. Via an Arrhenius analysis of the resistivity data the pinning activation energies for three vortex lattice parameters have been quantified. The changes in the electrical transport and the pinning properties have been correlated with the results of the microstructural and topographical characterization of the FIB-patterned samples. Accordingly, along with the surface processing, FIB milling has been found to alter the material composition and the degree of disorder in as-grown films. The obtained results provide further insight into the pinning mechanisms at work in FIB-nanopatterned superconductors, e.g. for fluxonic applications.

show abstract

“…Within the last decade, nanostructured superconductors have received much attention [1][2][3]. They provide direct access to the manipulation of fluxons, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical transport and pinning properties of Nb thin films patterned with focused ion beam-milled washboard nanostructures

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We note that the microstrip width is an integer multiple number (N = 300) of the nanopattern period and the accuracy of FIB milling in conjunction with the large microstrip dimensions ensure that possible ratchet effects due to the edge barrier asymmetry [31][32][33] are insignificant to the highest attainable degree. The grooves are parallel to the direction of the transport current density j and, hence, in a perpendicular magnetic field B = µ 0 H the dc dissipation and the microwave loss in the microstrip are related to the vortex dynamics across the grooves, since they experience the action of the Lorentz force F L = j × B 34 . The data presented here were acquired on two microstrips, one patterned with grooves having a symmetric crosssection (sample S) and the other with grooves having an asymmetric one (sample A).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual cut-off direct current-tunable microwave low-pass filter on superconducting Nb microstrips with asymmetric nanogrooves

Dobrovolskiy

Huth

2015

Applied Physics Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a dual cut-off, dc-tunable low-pass microwave filter on a superconducting Nb microstrip with uniaxial asymmetric nanogrooves. The frequency response of the device was measured in the range 300 KHz to 14 GHz at different temperatures, magnetic fields, and dc current values. The microwave loss is most effectively reduced when the Abrikosov vortex lattice spatially matches the underlying washboard pinning landscape. The forward transmission coefficient S 21 (f ) of the microstrip has a dc-tunable cut-off frequency f d which notably changes under dc bias reversal, due to the two different slope steepnesses of the pinning landscape. The device's operation principle relies upon a crossover from the weakly dissipative response of vortices at low frequencies when they are driven over the grooves, to the strongly dissipative response at high frequencies when the vortices are oscillating within one groove. The filter's cut-off frequency is the vortex depinning frequency tunable by the dc bias as it diminishes the pinning effect induced by the nanopattern. The reported results unveil an advanced microwave functionality of superconducting films with asymmetric (ratchet) pinning landscapes and are relevant for tuning the microwave loss in superconducting planar transmission lines.

show abstract

“…Within the last decade the idea to manipulate the Abrikosov vortices, also called fluxons, has attracted considerable attention [8]. This is nowadays known as fluxonics, similarly with the control of electrons in electronics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluxonic Properties of Vortices in a Washboard Pinning Potential Fabricated by Focused Particle Beam Techniques

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A challenging aspect of the usage of patterned nanostructures relates to the development of superconducting devices operating with the Abrikosov vortices in some pinning potential. To provide such a potential we have used thin epitaxial films of Nb with washboard-like nanostructures in the form of grooves or Co stripes. The nanostructures were prepared by focused ion beam milling or focused electron beam induced deposition, respectively. The results of transport measurements affirm the existence of two fluxonic effects, the guided vortex motion and the vortex ratchet effect, both invoked by the nanostructuring. In particular, the effects represent the basis for the development of advanced fluxonic devices using a directional or orientational control of the net vortex motion in Nb films nanostructured by focused particle beam techniques.

show abstract

Guided Vortex Motion and Vortex Ratchets in Nanostructured Superconductors

Cited by 21 publications

References 117 publications

Electrical transport and pinning properties of Nb thin films patterned with focused ion beam-milled washboard nanostructures

Electrical transport and pinning properties of Nb thin films patterned with focused ion beam-milled washboard nanostructures

Dual cut-off direct current-tunable microwave low-pass filter on superconducting Nb microstrips with asymmetric nanogrooves

Fluxonic Properties of Vortices in a Washboard Pinning Potential Fabricated by Focused Particle Beam Techniques

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About