Triangular antidot array to honeycomb wire network – Role of interstitial vortices

We present results on interesting vortex matching effects that arise out of the interplay between the geometric shape of the vortex and the geometry of the underlying nano-engineered antidot lattice in Nb thin films. The antidots are in the shape of honeycomb with gradually increasing area such that one essentially goes over from a triangular antidot array to a honeycomb wire network. The fractional matching at 1/2 is absent in the antidot array limit hinting towards a possible role of the interstitial vortices.     

Out-of-plane coercive field of Ni80Fe20 antidot arrays

The out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy and out-of-plane magnetization reversal process of nanoscale Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays deposited by magnetron sputtering technique on an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are investigated. The angular dependence of out-of-plane remanent magnetization of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays shows that the maximum remanence is in-plane and the squareness of the out-of-plane hysteresis loop follow a |cos θ| dependence. The angular dependence of out-of-plane coercivity of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays shows that the maximum coercivity lies on the surface of a cone with its symmetric axis normal to the sample plane, which indicates a transition of magnetic reversal from curling to coherent rotation when changing the angle between the applied magnetic field and the sample plane.     

Enhanced pinning of superconducting vortices at circular magnetic dots in the magnetic-vortex state

Low-temperature magnetic force microscopy (LT-MFM) was used to study the distribution of superconducting vortices in Nb above a square array of 1 μm-sized circular ferromagnetic dots in a magnetic-vortex state. The force that the MFM tip exerts on the individual vortex in the depinning process was used to estimate the spatial modulation of the pinning potential. It was found, that the superconducting vortices which are preferably located on top of the Py dots experience a pinning force, about 15 times stronger as compared to the pinning force in the pure Nb film. This strong pinning exceeds the repulsive interaction between the superconducting vortices and allows vortex clusters to be located above the dots.     

Staircase magnetization anomalies in superconducting Pb/Au bilayer films patterned with antidot lattices

Superconducting Pb(x)/Au(25 nm) bilayers (x = 50, 100 nm) patterned with antidot lattices exhibit various matching field anomalies depending on experimental conditions. Magnetization peaks at applied fields H = n[20 Oe] (n = integer) resemble superconducting wire network data; cusps are also observed, consistent with predictions of “giant” vortices in low-kappa films. Sharp “staircase” anomalies spaced by 1–3 Oe are observed in AC magnetization, possibly a result of depinning of intermediate state domains, or macroscopic quantum tunneling between reproducible states of different quantized flux.     

三维拓扑绝缘体antidot阵列结构中的磁致输运研究

利用聚焦离子束刻蚀技术在拓扑绝缘体Bi_2Se_3薄膜中刻蚀了纳米尺度的反点(antidot)阵列,并对制作的三个器件进行了系统的电学输运测量研究.低温下,所有器件中都观察到明显的弱反局域化效应.通过对弱反局域化效应的分析,发现器件一(Dev-1,不含有antidot阵列)和器件二(Dev-2,含有周期较大的antidot阵列)是始终由一个导电通道主导的量子输运系统,但在器件三(Dev-3,含有周期较小的antidot阵列)中能明确观察到较低温度下存在两个独立的导电通道,而在较高温度下Dev-3表现为由一个导电通道主导的量子输运系统.     

Matching effect in superconducting NbN thin film with a square lattice of holes

A square hole array is fabricated over a micro-bridge of NbN thin film by electron beam lithography and reactive ion milling. Magneto-resistance is measured across the micro-bridge filled with a hole array near the superconducting transition temperature. It is found that magneto-resistance minima occur when the number of vortices is an integer multiple or a fractional multiple of the number of holes. The temperature and the current dependences of the matching effect are studied.     

Stability of charged impurities in a coupled single electron transistor and antidot system

We have fabricated devices on GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, containing two-dimensional electron gases, that consist of three point contacts surrounding an etched antidot with an Al/AlO_x/Al single electron transistor. The single electron transistor measurement shows rearrangement of neighboring charged impurities with a characteristic stability time scale of 20 s in one device and greater than 1 h in a second device. We also measured the resistance of the point contact–antidot constriction versus magnetic field. In a device with a 20 s stability time, we see a high noise level and poor reproducibility. In a device with a long stability time, much greater than 1 h, we are able to see reproducible features including Aharonov–Bohm oscillations.     

Dynamics of kinematic vortices in a mesoscopic superconducting loop

Using the time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau formalism, we study the dynamic properties of a submicron superconducting loop in applied current and in presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. The resistive state of the sample is caused by the motion of kinematic vortex–antivortex pairs. Vortices and antivortices move in opposite directions to each other, perpendicularly to the applied drive, and the periodic creation and annihilation of such pairs results in periodic oscillations of the voltage across the sample. The dynamics of these kinematic pairs is strongly influenced by the applied magnetic field, which for high fields leads to the flow of just vortices. Kinematic vortices can be temporarily pinned inside the loop with observable trace in the voltage vs. time characteristics.     

超导薄膜磁场穿透深度的双线圈互感测量

磁场穿透深度是联系超导体宏观电动力学与微观机制的重要物理量,其精确测量对于研究超导机理以及探索超导应用具有重要意义.在众多的磁场穿透深度测量方法中,双线圈互感法具有测量精度高、技术相对成熟、对样品没有破坏等优点,可被用于细致地研究超导薄膜的磁场穿透深度对温度、掺杂、外延应力等参量的依赖关系.本文首先简要介绍了双线圈互感法的基本原理,指出该方法的测量精度主要受系统几何参数及薄膜边缘漏磁的影响;之后对自主设计搭建的透射型双线圈互感装置进行了系统的校验,并详细说明了其测量精度:对于厚度为100 nm,穿透深度为150 nm的典型薄膜样品,穿透深度绝对值的测量误差小于10%;最后通过测量NbN超导薄膜的磁场穿透深度进一步检验了装置的精度,分析表明穿透深度的测量值与文献报道结果符合.     

Interstitial vortex in superconducting film with periodic hole arrays

The response of superconducting Nb films with a diluted triangular and square array of holes to a perpendicular magnetic field are investigated.Due to small edge-to-edge separation of the holes,the patterned films are similar to multi-connected superconducting islands.Two regions in the magnetoresistance R(H) curves can be identified according to the field intervals of the resistance minima.Moreover,in between these two regions,variation of the minima spacing was observed.Our results provide strong evidence of the coexistence of interstitial vortices in the islands and fluxoids in the holes.     

Fano fingerprints of Majoranas in Kitaev dimers of superconducting adatoms

We investigate theoretically a Fano interferometer composed by STM and AFM tips close to a Kitaev dimer of superconducting adatoms, in which the adatom placed under the AFM tip, encloses a pair of Majorana fermions (MFs). For the binding energy Δ of the Cooper pair delocalized into the adatoms under the tips coincident with the tunneling amplitude t between them, namely Δ=t, we find that only one MF beneath the AFM tip hybridizes with the adatom coupled to the STM tips. As a result, a gate invariance feature emerges: the Fano profile of the transmittance rises as an invariant quantity depending upon the STM tips Fermi energy, due to the symmetric swap in the gate potential of the AFM tip.     

Surface-field-induced effects on morphologies of lamella-forming diblock copolymers in nanorod arrays

The surface-induced effect on the morphologies of lamella-forming diblock copolymers in nanorod arrays is studied by using the self-consistent field theory.In the simulation study,a rich variety of novel morphologies are observed by variations in the strength of the surface field for the diblock copolymers.Different surface-field-induced effects are examined for the diblock copolymers in the arrays with distinct preferential surfaces.It is observed that the majority-block preferential surfaces have more obvious induced effects than those of minority-block preferential surfaces.The strong surface fields exhibit different behaviours from those observed in the weak surface fields,by which the morphologies possess cylindrical symmetries.Results from this research deepen the knowledge of surface-induced effects in a confinement system,which may aid the fabrication of polymer-based nanomaterials.     

Influence of flat milling on vortex matching effect in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+y with antidot array

Significant enlargements of antidot diameter by Ar-ion milling were observed in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y single-crystal films with antidot arrays as well as the thinning of the films. In an original sample with triangular array of antidots, whose diameter is about 200 nm, a few dip structures by the matching effect were observed in the vortex-flow resistance as a function of magnetic field. With increasing the milling time, the number of the dips increases and the appearance of the flow resistance becomes periodic oscillations. These features can be explained mainly by the increase of the antidot diameter.     

Optical analogue of relativistic Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays

We study analytically and numerically an optical analogue of Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays in the presence of Kerr nonlinearity. Pseudo-relativistic soliton solutions of the coupled-mode equations describing dynamics in the array are analytically derived. We demonstrate that with the found soliton solutions, the coupled mode equations can be converted into the nonlinear relativistic 1D Dirac equation. This paves the way for using binary waveguide arrays as a classical simulator of quantum nonlinear effects arising from the Dirac equation, something that is thought to be impossible to achieve in conventional (i.e. linear) quantum field theory.     

利用光束整形器件阵列消除电寻址空间光调制器的"黑栅"效应

研究了电寻址空间光调制器中由于低开口率所引起的"黑栅"效应对图像质量的影响。提出了一种基于纯相位型光束整形器件阵列的"黑栅"消除方法,并分析了该方法的基本原理。介绍了用Gerchberg Saxton相位恢复算法来设计光束整形器件的基本思路,给出了光束整形的结果。理论分析及仿真计算表明,该方法能有效地消除电寻址空间光调制器相邻像素之间的黑带。     

Coherent motion of vortices driven by both dc and ac current in a Josephson junction ratchet array

We have studied the vortex dynamics in a ratchet array of Josephson junctions in the presence of magnetic field of 1/5 flux quantum per plaquette. The ratchet potential consists of both alternate critical currents for all the vertical junctions and alternate shunt capacitances for all the horizontal junctions. The vortices driven by an ac current in some parameters are found to show the directional motion as well as the asymmetric current-voltage characteristics. We use the time-dependent vorticity and the time-dependent vorticity-vorticity correlation function to analyze the motion of vortices on a few fractional Shapiro steps. We have found that vortices on a fractional Shapiro n/5-step move coherently through n plaquettes during a single ac cycle. The asymmetric features of the ratchet array gradually disappear as finite temperature increases.     

Fractional matching effect in single-crystal films of with antidot lattice

To study the vortex behavior in 2D periodic pinning potentials, we measured field dependence of the vortex-flow resistance and the critical current in single-crystal Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y (Bi2212) films with an equilateral triangular array of antidots. Fractional matching effect was observed in 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, and 6/7 of the first matching field H₁, and even above H₁. While the most of fractional numbers except 1/2 can be explained from commensurability between triangular lattices of antidots and vortices, the matching effect in 1/2H₁ suggests the existence of the interstitial vortices in comparison with the results of a reported numerical simulation. The fractional matching effect above H₁ can be explained as a matching effect by multi-quanta vortices.