Attraction between pancake vortices in the crossing lattices of layered superconductors

The intervortex interaction is investigated in very anisotropic layered superconductors in tilted magnetic field. In such a case, the crossing lattice of Abrikosov vortices (AVs) and Josephson vortices (JVs) appears. The interaction between pancake vortices, forming the AVs and JVs, produces the deformation of the AV line. It is demonstrated that, as a result of this deformation, a long range attraction between AVs is induced. This phenomenon is responsible for the dense vortex chain formation. The vortex structure in the weak perpendicular magnetic field is the vortex chain phase, where only a small part of JVs is occupied by AVs.     

Probing the mechanism of interaction of Josephson vortices and pancake vortex lines in Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>2</Subscript>CaCu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>8 + <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> with columnar defects

Attractive interaction between pancake-vortex lines (PVLs) and Josephson vortices (JVs) in layered high-temperature superconductors is attributed to the local polarization of PVL at a crossing point by the currents circulating around the JV. To verify this mechanism we measured the Josephson flux-flow resistance in Bi-2212 stacked structures in a presence of PVLs for two cases, when PVLs are free and when they are trapped by columnar defects that highly suppress their local polarization. We found that the trapping PVLs by columnar defects (CDs) significantly eliminates interaction between PVLs and JVs. That observation strongly supports the local PVL polarization as a mechanism for their attractive interaction with JVs. The article is published in the original.     

Magnetic phase diagram of Josephson vortices in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O2+y

We show experimental results on magnetic phases of Josephson vortices (JVs) in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₂+y, obtained from the JV flow-resistance measurements. Periodic oscillations in the flow-resistance enable us to assign the phase of the long-range 3D ordered state, which was confirmed by the beating effect. We have made preliminary experiments on the doping effect to the JV magnetic phase. The doping effect is reflected not only in the lower boundary of 3D ordered phase, but also in the upper boundary. Above the upper boundary, the flow-resistance shows different behaviours, which may be related to the strength of the interlayer coupling of the JVs along the c-axis, and to the creation/annihilation of pancake vortex/anti-vortex pairs, thermally and magnetically.     

Application of the ratchet effect to improve material quality (reducing vortex density in superconductors and smoothing surfaces)

Although Brownian ratchets have been conceived to describe the operation of molecular motor proteins, their basic principles are also applicable to a wide range of different physical systems. In this paper I line up two such possible applications in condensed-matter physics. The first one is the removal of vortices from superconductors. Magnetic fields frequently penetrate superconducting materials in the form of vortices, and once present, they dissipate energy and generate internal noise, limiting the operation of numerous superconducting devices. We demonstrate theoretically that the application of an alternating current to a superconductor patterned with an appropriate ratchet-like pinning potential induces an outward vortex motion. The second application is based on the fact that the Schwoebel barrier induces an asymmetry in the lattice potential of nearly flat solid surfaces. During epitaxial growth this asymmetry leads to a fast and unwanted increase in the surface roughness. We show, however, that one can take advantage of the asymmetry by applying an alternating electric field parallel to the surface, which induces a net electromigrational flow of the surface atoms from the peaks towards the wells, and thus results in a smoother surface. Received: 20 November 2001 / Accepted: 14 January 2002 / Published online: 22 April 2002     

基于液面旋转平移法的绝对检验技术研究

绝对检验作为一种光学元件高精度检测方法,其中的两平晶绝对检验无法精确测量平移过程中的倾斜误差,导致恢复的面形中二次项出现偏差.液面在位置变化前后能够保持水平,在旋转平移过程中不会产生倾斜误差.推导了平移过程中倾斜误差和恢复面形中离焦项的关系,并通过仿真分析加以验证,当不存在倾斜误差时,残差面PV值小于1nm.在300m...     

Flow visualization and PIV measurement of flow field around a darrieus rotor in dynamic stall

The flow field around a Darrieus rotor in dynamic stall is studied by flow visualization and PIV measurements. The visualization is carried out by dye injection technique while the phase averaged velocity distributions around the blade are measured by PIV combined with a conditional imaging technique. The results indicate the appearance of dynamic stall phenomenon due to the shedding of two pairs of vortices from the blade during one rotation of the rotor. These stall vortices are produced by the separation of flow over the inner surface of the blade and the formation of roll-up vortices from the outer surface. The second stall vortices develop along the blade and strongly interact with the flow field near the blade, affecting the aerodynamic performance of the rotor.     

Rossby solitary vortices,on giant planets and in the laboratory

This is a review of laboratory experiments with a layer of shallow water having a free surface and rotating together with a vessel of parabolic form. Such a (rather original) setup has allowed one to create Rossby solitary vortex for the first time. The latter is an anticyclonic Rossby vortex not subjected to dispersive spread owing to its compensation by the nonlinearity of KdV type. By its structural, collisional, and other properties, including clear-cut cyclonic-anticyclonic asymmetry, it may be considered as a physical prototype of the large-scale long-lived anticyclonic Rossby vortices like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter or the Great Dark Spot of Neptune (this remarkable vortex was discovered by the spacecraft Voyager-2 during its farewell to the Solar System) and other vortices dominating in the atmospheres of giant planets and created by the unstable zonal flows. It has been shown that the vortex under study is a long-lived entity provided it satisfies "antitwisting condition," i.e., it has rather large amplitude (at which it rotates more quickly than it propagates and thereby carries the trapped fluid). In this case, it is not subjected to the "twisting" deformation and may be ascribed by the generalized Charney-Obukhov equation for Rossby vortices on shallow water with a free surface. The results of creating the vortex under consideration by the different methods have been compared with the results obtained by other authors in the experiments on shear-flow generation of Rossby vortices.     

Role of tilt order in the asymmetric ripple phase of phospholipid bilayers

We present the electron density map of the asymmetric ripple phase of dilauroylphosphatidylcholine. We find that the primary feature characterizing the "asymmetry" of the rippled bilayers is the difference in the bilayer thickness in the two arms, and not the asymmetry of the bilayer height profile as is generally assumed. This difference in the bilayer thickness can be attributed to a mean tilt of the hydrocarbon chains of the lipid molecules along the direction of the ripple wave vector. We propose a Landau theory for this phase which takes into account the anisotropic elastic properties of a bilayer with tilt order.     

Acoustic streaming related to minor loss phenomenon in differentially heated elements of thermoacoustic devices

It is demonstrated that the differentially heated stack, the heart of all thermoacoustic devices, provides a source of streaming additional to those associated with Reynolds stresses in quasi-unidirectional gas flow. This source of streaming is related to temperature-induced asymmetry in the generation of vortices and turbulence near the stack ends. The asymmetry of the hydrodynamic effects in an otherwise geometrically symmetric stack is due to the temperature difference between stack ends. The proposed mechanism of streaming excitation in annular thermoacoustic devices operates even in the absence of thermo-viscous interaction of sound waves with resonator walls.     

Motionally induced asymmetry parameter in NMR spectral patterns from a lyotropic lamellar phase

A large asymmetry parameter in the deuterium spectral pattern is idetified for the first time near the gel position of the of the potassium palmitate-water system. This asymmetry, measured at the deuterated terminal methyl position of the hydrocarbon chain, implies biaxial order suggesting cooperative tilt of the chains in the bilayer.     

Phase singularity of surface plasmon polaritons generated by optical vortices

We demonstrate an experimental result that shows the phase singularity of surface plasmon waves generated by the direct transform of optical vortices at normal incidence focused on a structureless metal surface. The near-field two-dimensional intensity distribution near the focal plane is experimentally examined by using near-field scanning optical microscopy and shows a good agreement with the finite-difference time-domain simulation result. The experimental realization demonstrates a potential of the proposed excitation scheme to be reconfigured locally with advantages over structures milled into optically thick metallic films for plasmonics applications involving plasmonic vortices.     

Some remarks on coherent structures out of chaos in planetary atmospheres and oceans

In the context of planetary atmospheres and oceans, it is natural to define "coherent structures" as "long-lived," or "solitary," Rossby vortices. These can be described by the generalized Charney-Obukhov equation (in fluid dynamics) or the analogous generalized Hasegawa-Mima equation (in plasma physics). These two equations contain KdV-type nonlinearities which (together with the compensating dispersive spreading) determine the formation of the coherent structures and explain the clear-cut cyclonic/anticyclonic asymmetry observed experimentally in long-lived planetary Rossby vortices. Examples are given of natural vortices which are (and which are not) coherent structures.     

Investigating acoustic correlates of human vocal fold vibratory phase asymmetry through modeling and laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

Vocal fold vibratory asymmetry is often associated with inefficient sound production through its impact on source spectral tilt. This association is investigated in both a computational voice production model and a group of 47 human subjects. The model provides indirect control over the degree of left-right phase asymmetry within a nonlinear source-filter framework, and high-speed videoendoscopy provides in vivo measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry. Source spectral tilt measures are estimated from the inverse-filtered spectrum of the simulated and recorded radiated acoustic pressure. As expected, model simulations indicate that increasing left-right phase asymmetry induces steeper spectral tilt. Subject data, however, reveal that none of the vibratory asymmetry measures correlates with spectral tilt measures. Probing further into physiological correlates of spectral tilt that might be affected by asymmetry, the glottal area waveform is parameterized to obtain measures of the open phase (open/plateau quotient) and closing phase (speed/closing quotient). Subjects' left-right phase asymmetry exhibits low, but statistically significant, correlations with speed quotient (r=0.45) and closing quotient (r=-0.39). Results call for future studies into the effect of asymmetric vocal fold vibration on glottal airflow and the associated impact on voice source spectral properties and vocal efficiency.     

Directed motion of vortices in a current-driven Josephson junction network

Dynamics of directed motion of vortices in a Josephson junction network (JJN) with a ladder structure is studied using a numerical simulation. By applying spatial and temporal modulation of external bias currents, directed motion of vortices occurs in the absence of a ratchet-type asymmetric potential. In the present system, the asymmetry of the directed motion emerges as a dynamical effect due to the modulated bias current. Some dynamical effects such as mode-locking and vortex–antivortex excitation are relevant to the directed dynamics. We clarify the details of the directed motion of vortices in the JJN.     

Measurement of the neutron radius of 208Pb through parity violation in electron scattering

We report the first measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry A(PV) in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from 208Pb. A(PV) is sensitive to the radius of the neutron distribution (R(n)). The result A(PV)=0.656±0.060(stat)±0.014(syst) ppm corresponds to a difference between the radii of the neutron and proton distributions R(n)-R(p)=0.33(-0.18)(+0.16) fm and provides the first electroweak observation of the neutron skin which is expected in a heavy, neutron-rich nucleus.     

Spatial line nodes and fractional vortex pairs in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov vortex state of spin-singlet superconductors

A Zeeman magnetic field can induce a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase in spin-singlet superconductors. Here we argue that there is a nontrivial solution for the FFLO vortex phase that exists near the upper critical field in which the wave function has only spatial line nodes that form intricate and unusual three-dimensional structures. These structures include a crisscrossing lattice of two sets of nonparallel line nodes. We show that these solutions arise from the decay of conventional Abrikosov vortices into pairs of fractional vortices. We propose that neutron scattering studies can observe these fractional vortex pairs through the observation of a lattice of 1/2 flux quanta vortices. We also consider related phases in noncentrosymmetric superconductors.     

Distribution of a local magnetic field in superconductors with an uncorrelated random lattice of abrikosov vortices

The distribution of a local magnetic field near the surface of a uniaxial anisotropic type-II superconductor is determined in the framework of the London model in the case when the Abrikosov vortices are randomly distributed in the superconductor. The distribution of a local magnetic field is obtained as a function of the distance from the surface of the superconductor. It is demonstrated that the shape of the distribution of the local magnetic field near the surface differs substantially from that in the bulk of the superconductor. This difference should be taken into account in interpreting experimental data on the local magnetic field in the surface region of the superconductor and in thin superconducting films (with a thickness of less than or equal to λ, where λ is the depth of penetration of the magnetic field into the superconductor). It is shown that, as in the case of a regular lattice of vortices, the value of λ can be determined from observations of the distribution of the local magnetic field in type-II superconductors with an uncorrelated random lattice of vortices.     

Vortex emission accompanies the advection of optical localized structures

We show that the advection of optical localized structures is accompanied by the emission of vortices, with phase singularities appearing in the wake of the drifting structure. Localized structures are obtained in a light-valve experiment and made to drift by a mirror tilt in the feedback loop. Pairs of oppositely charged vortices are detected for small drifts, whereas for large drifts a vortex array develops. Observations are supported by numerical simulations and linear stability analysis of the system equations and are expected to be generic for a large class of translated optical patterns.     

Controlling the motion of magnetic flux quanta

We study the transport of vortices in superconductors with triangular arrays of boomerang- or V-shaped asymmetric pinning wells, when applying an alternating electrical current. The asymmetry of the pinning landscape induces a very efficient "diode" effect, that allows the sculpting at will of the magnetic field profile inside the sample. We present the first quantitative study of magnetic "lensing" of fluxons inside superconductors. Our proposed vortex lens provides a near threefold increase of the vortex density at its "focus" regions. The main numerical features have been derived analytically.