Observation of Vortex Clustering in Nano-Size Superconducting Pb Island Structures by Low-Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy

Tominaga, Takaaki; Sakamoto, Toshio; Nishio, Takahiro; An, Toshu; Eguchi, Toyoaki; Yoshida, Yasuo; Hasegawa, Yukio

doi:10.1007/s10948-012-1522-4

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Using a connection to a UHV preparation chamber one can study systems which can only be grown and handled in UHV. An increasing number of groups is working on UHV systems to address interesting vortex properties of systems which can only be grown in UHV conditions, such as few atom thick islands of Pb [69,70,[73][74][75]. In many other materials, among them most superconducting compounds, one can devise methods to obtain fresh surfaces in-situ.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[246] developed a method to fabricate atomically flat superconducting surfaces in thin films and map the vortex distribution. Vortex nucleation has been traced in single crystalline thin film and in nanosized Pb islands [68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75]. In those cases, pinning mechanisms are probably related to impurities, step edges or proximity effect Figure 26.…”

Section: H-nbsementioning

confidence: 99%

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Imaging superconducting vortex cores and lattices with a scanning tunneling microscope

Suderow¹,

Guillamón²,

Rodrigo³

et al. 2014

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

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Abstract. The observation of vortices in superconductors was a major breakthrough in developing the conceptual background for superconducting applications. Each vortex carries a flux quantum, and the magnetic field radially decreases from the center. Techniques used to make magnetic field maps, such as magnetic decoration, give vortex lattice images in a variety of systems. However, strong type II superconductors allow penetration of the magnetic field over large distances, of order of the magnetic penetration depth λ. Superconductivity survives up to magnetic fields where, for imaging purposes, there is no magnetic contrast at all. Static and dynamic properties of vortices are largely unknown at such high magnetic fields. Reciprocal space studies using neutron scattering have been employed to obtain insight into the collective behavior. But the microscopic details of vortex arrangements and their motion remain difficult to obtain. Direct real space visualization can be made using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/S). Instead of using magnetic contrast, the electronic density of states describes spatial variations of the quasiparticle and pair wavefunction properties. These are of order of the superconducting coherence length ξ, which is much smaller than λ. In principle, individual vortices can be imaged using STM up to the upper critical field where vortex cores, of size ξ, overlap. In this review, we describe recent advances in vortex imaging made with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We introduce the technique and discuss vortex images which reveal the influence of the Fermi surface distribution of the superconducting gap on the internal structure of vortices, the collective behavior of the lattice in different materials and conditions, and the observation of vortex lattice melting. We consider challenging lines of work, which include imaging vortices in nanostructures, multiband and heavy fermion superconductors, single layers and van-der-Waals crystals, studying current driven dynamics and the liquid vortex phases.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: H-nbsementioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging superconducting vortex cores and lattices with a scanning tunneling microscope

Suderow¹,

Guillamón²,

Rodrigo³

et al. 2014

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Early work focused on the effect of condensate confinement in mesoscopic disks [2][3][4], and the effect of symmetry [5] in comparing disks, squares [6], and mesoscopic triangles [7]. Focus on vortex states in mesoscopic superconductors, both theoretical and experimental, revealed multi-vortex Abrikosov-like states with spatial arrangements of singly quantized vortices, or giant vortex states depending on details of the condensate confinement [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating nanostructured superconductors on demand by local current annealing

Baek

Zhang

et al. 2015

Phys. Rev. B

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Abstract:Superconductivity results from a Bose condensate of Cooper-paired electrons with a macroscopic quantum wavefunction. Dramatic effects can occur when the region of the condensate is shaped and confined to the nanometer scale. Recent progress in nanostructured superconductors has revealed a route to topological superconductivity, with possible applications in quantum computing. However, challenges remain in controlling the shape and size of specific superconducting materials. Here, we report a new method to create nanostructured superconductors by partial crystallization of the half-Heusler material, YPtBi. Superconducting islands, with diameters in the range of 100 nm, were reproducibly created by local current annealing of disordered YPtBi in the tunneling junction of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). We characterize the superconducting island properties by scanning tunneling spectroscopic measurements to determine the gap energy, critical temperature and field, coherence length, and vortex formations. These results show unique properties of a confined superconductor and demonstrate that this new method holds promise to create tailored superconductors for a wide variety of nanometer scale applications.

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“…In the case of hard condensed-matter, nanocrystals are made up of at most a few thousand of particles (atoms); 9,10 similarly soft-condensed matter "vortex nanocrystals" can be nucleated in micron-sized samples with the same amount of vortices. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Typically, hard condensed matter nanocrystals present a decrease of transition temperatures, entropy and enthalpy jumps in melting and solid-solid first-order phase transitions. 9,10,19,20 This is the consequence of a depletion of the total binding energy since the particle's surfaceto-volume ratio increases on decreasing the system size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excess of topological defects induced by confinement in vortex nanocrystals

et al. 2017

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We directly image individual vortex positions in nanocrystals in order to unveil the structural property that contributes to the depletion of the entropy-jump entailed at the first-order transition. On reducing the nanocrystal size the density of topological defects increases near the edges over a characteristic length. Within this "healing-length" distance from the sample edge vortex rows tend to bend while towards the center of the sample the positional order of the vortex structure is what is expected for the Bragg-glass phase. This suggests that the healing-length may be a key quantity to model the entropy-jump depletion in the first-order transition of extremely-layered vortex nanocrystals.

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Observation of Vortex Clustering in Nano-Size Superconducting Pb Island Structures by Low-Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Imaging superconducting vortex cores and lattices with a scanning tunneling microscope

Imaging superconducting vortex cores and lattices with a scanning tunneling microscope

Creating nanostructured superconductors on demand by local current annealing

Excess of topological defects induced by confinement in vortex nanocrystals

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