Related papers: Controlled Manipulation of Individual Vortices in …
Superconductors often contain quantized microscopic whirlpools of electrons, called vortices, that can be modeled as one-dimensional elastic objects. Vortices are a diverse playground for condensed matter because of the interplay between…
Manipulating individual vortices in a deterministic way is challenging, ideally, manipulation should be effective, local, and tunable in strength and location. Here, we show that vortices interact with strain fields generated by mechanical…
Vortices play a crucial role in determining the properties of superconductors as well as their applications. Therefore, characterization and manipulation of vortices, especially at the single vortex level, is of great importance. Among many…
Epitaxial niobium-nitride thin films with a critical temperature of Tc=16K and a thickness of 100nm were fabricated on MgO(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Low-temperature magnetic force microscopy (MFM) images of the…
We discuss a new class of phenomena based on strong interaction between magnetic superstructures and vortices in superconductors in combined heterogeneous structures. An inhomogeneous magnetization can pin vortices or create them…
We demonstrate a method for manipulating small ensembles of vortices in multiply-connected superconducting structures. A micron-size magnetic particle attached to the tip of a silicon cantilever is used to locally apply magnetic flux…
Strong pinning of superconducting flux quanta by a square array of 1 $\mu$m-sized ferromagnetic dots in a magnetic-vortex state was visualized by low-temperature magnetic force microscopy (LT-MFM). A direct correlation of the…
Understanding and controlling the motion of superconducting vortices has been a key issue in condensed matter physics and applied superconductivity. Here we present a method for macroscopically manipulating the vortices based on travelling…
We use magnetic force microscopy to both image and manipulate individual vortex lines threading single crystalline YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.4}$, a layered superconductor. We find that when we pull the top of a pinned vortex, it may not tilt…
We show how a single flux quantum can be effectively manipulated in a superconducting film with a matrix of blind holes. Such a sample can serve as a basic memory element, where the position of the vortex in a [k x l] matrix of pinning…
As shown in recent experiments [Auslaender et al., Nature Physics 5, 35 (2009)] magnetic force microscopy permits one not only to image but also to manipulate an individual vortex in type-II superconductors, and this manipulation provides a…
Magnetic field can penetrate into type-II superconductors in the form of Abrikosov vortices, which are magnetic flux tubes surrounded by circulating supercurrents often trapped at defects referred to as pinning sites. Although the average…
Harnessing the properties of vortices in superconductors is crucial for fundamental science and technological applications; thus, it has been an ongoing goal to locally probe and control vortices. Here, we use a scanning probe technique…
Flux vortices in superconductors can be imaged using transmission electron microscopy because the electron beam is deflected by the magnetic flux associated with the vortices. This technique has a better spatial and temporal resolution than…
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.…
The dynamics of quantized magnetic vortices and their pinning by materials defects determine electromagnetic properties of superconductors, particularly their ability to carry non-dissipative currents. Despite recent advances in the…
Superconducting mesoscopic devices in magnetic fields present novel properties which can only be accounted for by both the quantum confinement of the Cooper pairs and by the interaction between the magnetic-field-induced vortices.…
Trapped vortices in superconductors introduce residual resistance in superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities and disrupt the operation of superconducting quantum and digital electronic circuits. Understanding the detailed dynamics of…
The presence of quantum vortices determines the electromagnetic response of superconducting materials and devices. Controlling the vortex motion, their pinning on intrinsic and artificial defects is therefore essential for superconducting…
We demonstrate here real-time imaging of individual vortices in a NbSe2 single crystal using polarized light microscopy. A new high-sensitivity magneto-optical (MO) imaging system enables observation of the static vortex lattice as well as…