Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Nano Letters

Controlled Generation of Quantized Vortex–Antivortex Pairs in a Superconducting Condensate

Jun‐Yi Ge, V. N. Gladilin, Jacques Tempere, Jozef T. Devreese, V. V. Moshchalkov

Published Jul 11, 2017• 24 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantized vortices, as topological defects, play an important role in both physics and technological applications of superconductors. Normally, the nucleation of vortices requires the presence of a high magnetic field or current density, which allow the vortices to enter from the sample boundaries. At the same time, the controllable generation of individual vortices inside a superconductor is still challenging. Here, we report the controllable creation of single quantum vortices and antivortices at any desirable position inside a superconductor. We exploit the local heating effect of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip: superconductivity is locally suppressed by the tip and vortex-antivortex pairs are generated when supercurrent flows around the hot spot. The experimental results are well-explained by theoretical simulations within the Ginzburg-Landau approach.

DOI
10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02180

Related papers

On-Demand Optical Generation of Single Flux Quanta

Antonine Rochet, Vasilii Vadimov, William Magrini +6 more

Superconductors can host quantized magnetic flux tubes surrounded by supercurrents, called Abrikosov vortices. Vortex penetration into a superconducting film is usually limited to its edges and triggered by external magnetic fields or local electrical currents. With a view to novel research directions in quantum computation, the possibility to generate and control single flux quanta in situ is thus challenging. We introduce a far-field optical method to sculpt the magnetic flux or generate permanent single vortices at any desired position in a superconductor. It is based on a fast quench following the absorption of a tightly focused laser pulse that locally heats the superconductor above its critical temperature. We achieve ex-nihilo creation of a single vortex pinned at the center of the hotspot, while its counterpart opposite flux is trapped tens of micrometers away at its boundaries. Our method paves the way to optical operation of Josephson transport with single flux quanta.

Nano Letters•Aug 3, 2020•11 citations

Local Josephson vortex generation and manipulation with a Magnetic Force Microscope

Viacheslav Dremov, Sergey Grebenchuk, Andrey G. Shishkin +12 more

Josephson vortices play an essential role in superconducting quantum electronics devices. Often seen as purely conceptual topological objects, 2π-phase singularities, their observation and manipulation are challenging. Here we show that in Superconductor-Normal metal-Superconductor lateral junctions Josephson vortices have a peculiar magnetic fingerprint that we reveal in Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) experiments. Based on this discovery, we demonstrate the possibility of the Josephson vortex generation and manipulation by the magnetic tip of a MFM, thus paving a way for the remote inspection and control of individual nano-components of superconducting quantum circuits.

Nature Communications•Sep 5, 2019•40 citations

Fast control of topological vortex formation in Bose-Einstein condensates by counterdiabatic driving

Shumpei Masuda, Utkan Güngördü, Xi Chen +2 more

Fast creation of a single vortex in BEC of alkali-metal atoms at a prescribed position and time is still challenging, even though various methods to create single and multiple vortices have been proposed and demonstrated. Topological vortex formation is advantageous in this respect over other methods in that the position and time of vortex formation is highly controllable. This method requires inversion of the bias magnetic field along the axis of the condensate, which leads to unwanted atom loss due to nonadiabatic transitions when the bias field crosses zero. It is the purpose of this paper to propose a scheme that enables a fast creation of a vortex in much shorter time than needed for adiabatic control time by introducing the counterdiabatic field to avert the atom loss. We further introduce a gauge transformation so that the required magnetic field is generated by manipulating the current of the Ioffe bars, which makes our proposal experimentally feasible.

arXiv:1507.03052•Physical Review A•Jan 26, 2016•14 citations

Emergent vortex phenomena in spatially and temporally modulated superconducting condensates

Željko L. Jelić

Superconductivity is an electronic state of matter arising from the existence of a common wave function with a coherent phase extending on a truly macroscopic scale. One major manifestation of this striking quantum phenomenon is the dissipationless transport of electrical current, an asset deserving particular attention in the present times where the efficient energy distribution has become of utmost importance. Unfortunately, the motion of quantum units of magnetic flux (so-called vortices or fluxons), which is an unavoidable side-effect found in superconductors in the presence of transport currents and magnetic fields, severely limits the conditions to preserve dissipationless transport. This poses a challenge for achieving the functionalization of superconducting materials and threatens their spectrum of applications. It is widely known that any inhomogeneities (either material imperfections, or ones made artificially), which locally suppress superconductivity on the scale comparable to the core of the vortex, can pin the vortex and delay the onset of the vortex motion to higher applied currents. In recent years a substantial effort has been made to minimize the effects of current-induced vortex motion by tailoring arrays of artificial pinning centers. Besides improving the critical parameters of the superconducting state, a pinning matrix can be used for the manipulation of vortex matter, thus directly affecting the vortex dynamics, such as rectification of vortex motion under an ac drive (vortex diode) by introducing asymmetric pinning landscapes. In the literature one can find that the realization of the anchoring of the vortices can be based on nanostructured arrays of perforations, chemically grown defects, permanent nanomagnets, or even pinning sites produced by heavy ion bombardment. All of those realizations are based on a permanent imprint on the superconductor, without any possibility for subsequent modifications in the distribution and strength of the pinning. The principal objective of this thesis is to investigate the dynamical behavior of vortex matter under an entirely new kind of pinning landscape consisting of spatial and temporal modulation of the superconducting condensate. A particular case of spatial modulation is considered in a constricted structure where current lensing can cause extremely high vortex velocities. Subsequently, a time-dependent thermal potential introduced to the superconducting condensate will cause stroboscopic resonances during the vortex motion - a phenomenon that cannot be observed in the systems with static pinning imprints. Finally, a study of electronic gating is presented, where the local properties of superconductor, such as mean free path, or electronic band structure in general, can be influenced electronically. This is a completely unexplored interdisciplinary research topic, which will eventually allow one to manipulate individual vortices in superconducting materials by means of spatially confined and temporally controlled thermal and electromagnetic excitations. Furthermore, such techniques can provide one fundamental insight in different states of the vortex matter with respect to variation of the transport current, highly relevant for understanding the resistive state of superconducting materials and their applications.

•Nov 30, 2017•0 citations

Controlled creation and decay of singly-quantized vortices in a polar magnetic phase

Yixin Xiao, Magnus O. Borgh, Lauren S. Weiss +3 more

Abstract Quantized vortices appear in physical systems from superfluids and superconductors to liquid crystals and high energy physics. Unlike their scalar cousins, superfluids with complex internal structure can exhibit rich dynamics of decay and even fractional vorticity. Here, we experimentally and theoretically explore the creation and time evolution of vortex lines in the polar magnetic phase of a trapped spin-1 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensate. A process of phase-imprinting a nonsingular vortex, its decay into a pair of singular spinor vortices, and a rapid exchange of magnetic phases creates a pair of three-dimensional, singular singly-quantized vortex lines with core regions that are filled with atoms in the ferromagnetic phase. Atomic interactions guide the subsequent vortex dynamics, leading to core structures that suggest the decay of the singly-quantized vortices into half-quantum vortices.

arXiv:2006.15755•Communications Physics•Mar 12, 2021•10 citations

Manipulating Multivortex States in Superconducting Structures

Hryhoriy Polshyn, Tyler R. Naibert, Raffi Budakian

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 through the superconducting structure. By scanning the tip over the surface of the device and by utilizing the dynamical coupling between the vortices and the cantilever, a high-resolution spatial map of the different vortex configurations is obtained. Moving the tip to a particular location in the map stabilizes a distinct multivortex configuration. Thus, the scanning of the tip over a particular trajectory in space permits nontrivial operations to be performed, such as braiding of individual vortices within a larger vortex ensemble-a key capability required by many proposals for topological quantum computing.

arXiv:1905.06303•Nano Letters•Jun 27, 2019•20 citations
Quantized vortices, as topological defects, play an important role in both physics and technological applications of superconductors. Normally, the nucleation of vortices requires the presence of a high magnetic field or current density, which allow the vortices to enter from the sample boundaries. At the same time, the controllable generation of individual vortices inside a superconductor is still challenging. Here, we report the controllable creation of single quantum vortices and antivortices at any desirable position inside a superconductor. We exploit the local heating effect of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip: superconductivity is locally suppressed by the tip and vortex-antivortex pairs are generated when supercurrent flows around the hot spot. The experimental results are well-explained by theoretical simulations within the Ginzburg-Landau approach.
Superconductors can host quantized magnetic flux tubes surrounded by supercurrents, called Abrikosov vortices. Vortex penetration into a superconducting film is usually limited to its edges and triggered by external magnetic fields or local electrical currents. With a view to novel research directions in quantum computation, the possibility to generate and control single flux quanta in situ is thus challenging. We introduce a far-field optical method to sculpt the magnetic flux or generate permanent single vortices at any desired position in a superconductor. It is based on a fast quench following the absorption of a tightly focused laser pulse that locally heats the superconductor above its critical temperature. We achieve ex-nihilo creation of a single vortex pinned at the center of the hotspot, while its counterpart opposite flux is trapped tens of micrometers away at its boundaries. Our method paves the way to optical operation of Josephson transport with single flux quanta.
Josephson vortices play an essential role in superconducting quantum electronics devices. Often seen as purely conceptual topological objects, 2π-phase singularities, their observation and manipulation are challenging. Here we show that in Superconductor-Normal metal-Superconductor lateral junctions Josephson vortices have a peculiar magnetic fingerprint that we reveal in Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) experiments. Based on this discovery, we demonstrate the possibility of the Josephson vortex generation and manipulation by the magnetic tip of a MFM, thus paving a way for the remote inspection and control of individual nano-components of superconducting quantum circuits.
Fast creation of a single vortex in BEC of alkali-metal atoms at a prescribed position and time is still challenging, even though various methods to create single and multiple vortices have been proposed and demonstrated. Topological vortex formation is advantageous in this respect over other methods in that the position and time of vortex formation is highly controllable. This method requires inversion of the bias magnetic field along the axis of the condensate, which leads to unwanted atom loss due to nonadiabatic transitions when the bias field crosses zero. It is the purpose of this paper to propose a scheme that enables a fast creation of a vortex in much shorter time than needed for adiabatic control time by introducing the counterdiabatic field to avert the atom loss. We further introduce a gauge transformation so that the required magnetic field is generated by manipulating the current of the Ioffe bars, which makes our proposal experimentally feasible.
Superconductivity is an electronic state of matter arising from the existence of a common wave function with a coherent phase extending on a truly macroscopic scale. One major manifestation of this striking quantum phenomenon is the dissipationless transport of electrical current, an asset deserving particular attention in the present times where the efficient energy distribution has become of utmost importance. Unfortunately, the motion of quantum units of magnetic flux (so-called vortices or fluxons), which is an unavoidable side-effect found in superconductors in the presence of transport currents and magnetic fields, severely limits the conditions to preserve dissipationless transport. This poses a challenge for achieving the functionalization of superconducting materials and threatens their spectrum of applications. It is widely known that any inhomogeneities (either material imperfections, or ones made artificially), which locally suppress superconductivity on the scale comparable to the core of the vortex, can pin the vortex and delay the onset of the vortex motion to higher applied currents. In recent years a substantial effort has been made to minimize the effects of current-induced vortex motion by tailoring arrays of artificial pinning centers. Besides improving the critical parameters of the superconducting state, a pinning matrix can be used for the manipulation of vortex matter, thus directly affecting the vortex dynamics, such as rectification of vortex motion under an ac drive (vortex diode) by introducing asymmetric pinning landscapes. In the literature one can find that the realization of the anchoring of the vortices can be based on nanostructured arrays of perforations, chemically grown defects, permanent nanomagnets, or even pinning sites produced by heavy ion bombardment. All of those realizations are based on a permanent imprint on the superconductor, without any possibility for subsequent modifications in the distribution and strength of the pinning. The principal objective of this thesis is to investigate the dynamical behavior of vortex matter under an entirely new kind of pinning landscape consisting of spatial and temporal modulation of the superconducting condensate. A particular case of spatial modulation is considered in a constricted structure where current lensing can cause extremely high vortex velocities. Subsequently, a time-dependent thermal potential introduced to the superconducting condensate will cause stroboscopic resonances during the vortex motion - a phenomenon that cannot be observed in the systems with static pinning imprints. Finally, a study of electronic gating is presented, where the local properties of superconductor, such as mean free path, or electronic band structure in general, can be influenced electronically. This is a completely unexplored interdisciplinary research topic, which will eventually allow one to manipulate individual vortices in superconducting materials by means of spatially confined and temporally controlled thermal and electromagnetic excitations. Furthermore, such techniques can provide one fundamental insight in different states of the vortex matter with respect to variation of the transport current, highly relevant for understanding the resistive state of superconducting materials and their applications.
Abstract Quantized vortices appear in physical systems from superfluids and superconductors to liquid crystals and high energy physics. Unlike their scalar cousins, superfluids with complex internal structure can exhibit rich dynamics of decay and even fractional vorticity. Here, we experimentally and theoretically explore the creation and time evolution of vortex lines in the polar magnetic phase of a trapped spin-1 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensate. A process of phase-imprinting a nonsingular vortex, its decay into a pair of singular spinor vortices, and a rapid exchange of magnetic phases creates a pair of three-dimensional, singular singly-quantized vortex lines with core regions that are filled with atoms in the ferromagnetic phase. Atomic interactions guide the subsequent vortex dynamics, leading to core structures that suggest the decay of the singly-quantized vortices into half-quantum vortices.
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 through the superconducting structure. By scanning the tip over the surface of the device and by utilizing the dynamical coupling between the vortices and the cantilever, a high-resolution spatial map of the different vortex configurations is obtained. Moving the tip to a particular location in the map stabilizes a distinct multivortex configuration. Thus, the scanning of the tip over a particular trajectory in space permits nontrivial operations to be performed, such as braiding of individual vortices within a larger vortex ensemble-a key capability required by many proposals for topological quantum computing.