Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Edge effect pinning in mesoscopic superconducting strips with non-uniform distribution of defects

Abstract

Transport characteristics of nano-sized superconducting strips and bridges are determined by an intricate interplay of surface and bulk pinning. In the limiting case of a very narrow bridge, the critical current is mostly defined by its surface barrier, while in the opposite case of very wide strips it is dominated by its bulk pinning properties. Here we present a detailed study of the intermediate regime, where the critical current is determined, both, by randomly placed pinning centres and by the Bean-Livingston barrier at the edge of the superconducting strip in an external magnetic field. We use the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations to describe the vortex dynamics and current distribution in the critical regime. Our studies reveal that while the bulk defects arrest vortex motion away from the edges, defects in their close vicinity promote vortex penetration, thus suppressing the critical current. We determine the spatial distribution of the defects optimizing the critical current and find that it is in general non-uniform and asymmetric: the barrier at the vortex-exit edge influence the critical current much stronger than the vortex-entrance edge. Furthermore, this optimized defect distribution has a more than 30% higher critical current density than a homogeneously disorder superconducting film.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division; Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division; Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States). Dept. of Physics
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division
  4. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division; Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Computation Inst.
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)
OSTI Identifier:
1493704
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; Type-II superconductivity; critical current; vortex trapping; Bean-Livingston barrier; time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model

Citation Formats

Kimmel, Gregory J., Glatz, Andreas, Vinokur, Valerii M., and Sadovskyy, Ivan A. Edge effect pinning in mesoscopic superconducting strips with non-uniform distribution of defects. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36285-4.
Copy to clipboard
Kimmel, Gregory J., Glatz, Andreas, Vinokur, Valerii M., & Sadovskyy, Ivan A. Edge effect pinning in mesoscopic superconducting strips with non-uniform distribution of defects. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36285-4
Copy to clipboard
Kimmel, Gregory J., Glatz, Andreas, Vinokur, Valerii M., and Sadovskyy, Ivan A. Fri . "Edge effect pinning in mesoscopic superconducting strips with non-uniform distribution of defects". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36285-4. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1493704.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1493704,
title = {Edge effect pinning in mesoscopic superconducting strips with non-uniform distribution of defects},
author = {Kimmel, Gregory J. and Glatz, Andreas and Vinokur, Valerii M. and Sadovskyy, Ivan A.},
abstractNote = {Transport characteristics of nano-sized superconducting strips and bridges are determined by an intricate interplay of surface and bulk pinning. In the limiting case of a very narrow bridge, the critical current is mostly defined by its surface barrier, while in the opposite case of very wide strips it is dominated by its bulk pinning properties. Here we present a detailed study of the intermediate regime, where the critical current is determined, both, by randomly placed pinning centres and by the Bean-Livingston barrier at the edge of the superconducting strip in an external magnetic field. We use the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations to describe the vortex dynamics and current distribution in the critical regime. Our studies reveal that while the bulk defects arrest vortex motion away from the edges, defects in their close vicinity promote vortex penetration, thus suppressing the critical current. We determine the spatial distribution of the defects optimizing the critical current and find that it is in general non-uniform and asymmetric: the barrier at the vortex-exit edge influence the critical current much stronger than the vortex-entrance edge. Furthermore, this optimized defect distribution has a more than 30% higher critical current density than a homogeneously disorder superconducting film.},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-018-36285-4},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {1}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36285-4
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: (a) Two-dimensional superconducting strip of width W = 64ξ with non-homogeneous inclusion distribution. The current J is applied vertically (along the x-axis), the magnetic field B is perpendicular to the figure plane, and the resulting Lorentz force FL acts to the right (along the y-axis). The sample hasmore » a length of L = 1024ξ with quasi-periodic boundary conditions in the x direction; in the y direction, we have open boundary conditions, i.e., superconductor-vacuum surfaces. The strip contains (uncorrelated) randomly placed circular inclusions of diameter d = 3ξ. The density of these inclusions depends on y: in the middle of the sample, the volume fraction occupied by inclusions is f = 0.2, which corresponds approximately to conditions for the maximum possible critical current density in bulk samples. The density of the inclusion ρi(y) decreases linearly near the sample boundaries (see bottom plot): within a region of width lin at the boundary where vortices enter the sample and lout at the boundary where vortices leave the sample. (b) The critical current Jc as a function of lin and lout normalized by Jc(0, 0) at applied magnetic field B = 0.1Hc2. The critical current is increased by ~30% for finite lin and lout compared to the critical current from a homogeneous defect distribution (lin = lout = 0). The values of lin and lout corresponding to the maximum of the critical current Jc(lin, lout) are shown by colored circles for B = 0.1Hc2, 0.2Hc2, and 0.3Hc2. The effect is asymmetric and depends on the direction of vortex motion. The maximum is indicated by a (blue) circle. Corresponding maxima for fields 0.2Hc2 and 0.3Hc2 are indicated by (cyan and green) circles, marked by the field value.« less
All figures and tables (9 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Magnetization of High-Field Superconductors
journal, January 1964

Vortex-induced negative magnetoresistance and peak effect in narrow superconducting films
journal, July 2013

Suppression of surface barriers in superconductors by columnar defects
journal, September 2001

Suppression of surface barriers for flux penetration in Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + δ whiskers by electron and heavy ion irradiation
journal, September 2001

Magnetic relaxation over the Bean-Livingston surface barrier
journal, April 1993

Vortices in high-performance high-temperature superconductors
journal, September 2016

Geometrical vortex lattice pinning and melting in YBaCuO submicron bridges
journal, December 2016

  • Papari, G. P.; Glatz, A.; Carillo, F.
  • Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/srep38677

Parallel magnetic field suppresses dissipation in superconducting nanostrips
journal, November 2017

  • Wang, Yong-Lei; Glatz, Andreas; Kimmel, Gregory J.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 48
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1619550114

Critical currents, pinning, and edge barriers in narrow YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ thin films
journal, June 1990

Vortices in high-temperature superconductors
journal, October 1994

Magnetization of Hard Superconductors
journal, March 1962

Optimization of vortex pinning by nanoparticles using simulations of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model
journal, February 2016

Second-Generation High-Temperature Superconductor Wires for the Electric Power Grid
journal, August 2012

Large Magnetoresistance Oscillations in Mesoscopic Superconductors due to Current-Excited Moving Vortices
journal, July 2012

Novel Commensurability Effects in Superconducting Films with Antidot Arrays
journal, May 2006

Critical Field for Complete Vortex Expulsion from Narrow Superconducting Strips
journal, March 2004

Depinning and dynamics of vortices confined in mesoscopic flow channels
journal, January 2005

Stable large-scale solver for Ginzburg–Landau equations for superconductors
journal, August 2015

  • Sadovskyy, I. A.; Koshelev, A. E.; Phillips, C. L.
  • Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 294
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jcp.2015.04.002

Transport properties of high-temperature superconductors: Surface vs bulk effect
journal, September 1996

Phase slips in superconducting weak links
journal, January 2017

Strong-pinning regimes by spherical inclusions in anisotropic type-II superconductors
journal, November 2017

  • Willa, R.; Koshelev, A. E.; Sadovskyy, I. A.
  • Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 31, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1088/1361-6668/aa939e

Progress in Nanoengineered Microstructures for Tunable High-Current, High-Temperature Superconducting Wires
journal, February 2008

  • Holesinger, T. G.; Civale, L.; Maiorov, B.
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 20, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.200700919

Phase slips in a current-biased narrow superconducting strip
journal, January 2015

Peak effect due to competing vortex ground states in superconductors with large inclusions
journal, August 2018

Suppression of geometric barrier in type-II superconducting strips
journal, March 2014

Bean–Livingston barriers and first field for flux penetration in high‐ T c crystals
journal, November 1991

  • Burlachkov, L.; Konczykowski, M.; Yeshurun, Y.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 70, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.350152

Critical current from surface barriers in type-II superconducting strips
journal, December 1998

Magnetic field-induced dissipation-free state in superconducting nanostructures
journal, February 2013

  • Córdoba, R.; Baturina, T. I.; Sesé, J.
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2437

Effect of hexagonal patterned arrays and defect geometry on the critical current of superconducting films
journal, February 2017

Flux Penetration and Overcritical Currents in Flat Superconductors with Irradiation-Enhanced Edge Pinning: Theory and Experiment
journal, September 1994

Vortex trapping and expulsion in thin-film YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ strips
journal, April 2008

In silico optimization of critical currents in superconductors
journal, July 2017

Field-dependent critical current in type-II superconducting strips: Combined effect of bulk pinning and geometrical edge barrier
journal, December 2002

  • Elistratov, Andrey A.; Vodolazov, Denis Yu.; Maksimov, Igor L.
  • Physical Review B, Vol. 66, Issue 22
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.66.220506

Toward Superconducting Critical Current by Design
journal, March 2016

  • Sadovskyy, Ivan A.; Jia, Ying; Leroux, Maxime
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 23
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201600602

Type-II-superconductor strip with current in a perpendicular magnetic field
journal, November 1993

Bean-Livingston barrier and dynamics of the magnetic flux flow in layered (plated) superconductors
journal, March 2002

  • Bush, A. A.; Dorofeev, G. L.; Drobin, V. M.
  • IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, Vol. 12, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1109/TASC.2002.1018573

Simulation of the Vortex Dynamics in a Real Pinning Landscape of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ Coated Conductors
journal, January 2016

Targeted evolution of pinning landscapes for large superconducting critical currents
journal, April 2019

  • Sadovskyy, Ivan A.; Koshelev, Alexei E.; Kwok, Wai-Kwong
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 21
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1817417116

Large Magnetoresistance Oscillations in Mesoscopic Superconductors Due to Current-Excited Moving Vortices
text, January 2012

Suppression of Geometric Barrier in Type II Superconducting Strips
text, January 2014

Phase Slips in Superconducting Weak Links
text, January 2017

Strong-pinning regimes by spherical inclusions in anisotropic type-II superconductors
text, January 2017

Parallel magnetic field suppresses dissipation in superconducting nanostrips
text, January 2018

Targeted evolution of pinning landscapes for large superconducting critical currents
text, January 2019

Depinning and dynamics of vortices confined in mesoscopic flow channels
text, January 2004

    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    The Quest for High Critical Current in Applied High-Temperature Superconductors
    journal, September 2019

    • Glatz, Andreas; Sadovskyy, Ivan A.; Welp, Ulrich
    • Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, Vol. 33, Issue 1
    • DOI: 10.1007/s10948-019-05255-w

    Interplay between the quantum interference and current localization phenomena in superconductor non-ideal mesoscopic rings
    journal, August 2019

    The quest for high critical current in applied high-temperature superconductors
    text, January 2019

      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Figures / Tables found in this record:

      Figure 1 (p. 2)figure
      Figure 2 (p. 3)figure
      Figure 3 (p. 5)figure
      Figure 4 (p. 6)figure
      Figure 5 (p. 7)figure
      Figure 6 (p. 8)figure
      Figure 7 (p. 9)figure
      Figure 8 (p. 10)figure
      Table 1 (p. 10)table
        [ × clear filter / sort ]
        Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

        Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: