arXiv subjects

V. V. Moshchalkov

Publications and source records attributed to V. V. Moshchalkov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Tunable artificial vortex ice in nanostructured superconductors with frustrated kagome lattice of paired antidots

Theoretical proposals for spin ice analogs based on nanostructured superconductors have suggested larger flexibility for probing the effects of fluctuations and disorder than in the magnetic systems. In this work, we unveil the particularities of a vortex ice system by direct observation of the vortex distribution in a kagome lattice of paired antidots using scanning Hall probe microscopy. The theoretically suggested vortex ice distribution, lacking long range order, is observed at half matching field (H_{1}/2). Moreover, the vortex ice state formed by the pinned vortices is still preserved at 2H_{1}/3. This unexpected result is attributed to the introduction of interstitial vortices at these magnetic field values. Although the interstitial vortices increase the number of possible vortex configurations, it is clearly shown that the vortex ice state observed at 2H_{1}/3 is less prone to defects than at $H_{1}/2$. In addition, the non-monotonic variations of the vortex ice quality on the lattice spacing indicates that a highly ordered vortex ice state cannot be attained by simply reducing the lattice spacing. The optimal design to observe defect free vortex ice is discussed based on the experimental statistics. The direct observations of a tunable vortex ice state provides new opportunities to explore the order-disorder transition in artificial ice systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Point contact spectroscopy of the high-temperature superconductor $La_{1.8}Sr_{0.2}CuO_{4}$

The energy gap has been measured and the characteristic phonon energies determined for the superconducting compound $La_{1.8}Sr_{02}CuO_4$ from the current-voltage characteristics of point contacts with a copper counterelectrode. The temperature dependence of the energy gap was determined. pacs 73.40.Jn, 74.25.Kc, 74.45.+c, 73.40.-c, 74.20.Mn, 74.70.Ad, 74.72.-h, Dn

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Magnetization of the Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$Si in high magnetic field up to 50 T: possible evidence of a field-induced Griffiths phase

Magnetic properties of single crystals of Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$Si solid solutions with $x < 0.2$ are investigated by pulsed field technique in magnetic fields up to 50 T. It is shown that magnetization of Mn$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$Si in the paramagnetic phase follows power law $M(B) \sim B^α$ with the exponents $α\sim 0.33-0.5$, which starts above characteristic fields $B_c \sim 1.5-7$ T depending on the sample composition and lasts up to highest used magnetic field. Analysis of magnetization data including SQUID measurements in magnetic fields below 5 T suggests that this anomalous behavior may be likely attributed to the formation of a field-induced Griffiths phase in the presence of spin-polaron effects.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Speed limit to the Abrikosov lattice in mesoscopic superconductors

We study the instability of the superconducting state in a mesoscopic geometry for the low pinning material Mo$_3$Ge characterized by a large Ginzburg-Landau parameter. We observe that in the current driven switching to the normal state from a nonlinear region of the Abrikosov flux flow, the mean critical vortex velocity reaches a limiting maximum velocity as a function of the applied magnetic field. Based on time dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations we argue that the observed behavior is due to the high velocity vortex dynamics confined on a mesoscopic scale. We build up a general phase diagram which includes all possible dynamic configurations of Abrikosov lattice in a mesoscopic superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

The onset, evolution and magnetic braking of vortex lattice instabilities in nanostructured superconducting films

In 1976 Larkin and Ovchinnikov [Sov. Phys. JETP 41, 960 (1976)] predicted that vortex matter in superconductors driven by an electrical current can undergo an abrupt dynamic transition from a flux-flow regime to a more dissipative state at sufficiently high vortex velocities. Typically this transition manifests itself as a large voltage jump at a particular current density, so-called instability current density $J^*$, which is smaller than the depairing current. By tuning the effective pinning strength in Al films, using an artificial periodic pinning array of triangular holes, we show that a unique and well defined instability current density exists if the pinning is strong, whereas a series of multiple voltage transitions appear in the relatively weaker pinning regime. This behavior is consistent with time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations, where the multiple-step transition can be unambiguously attributed to the progressive development of vortex chains and subsequently phase-slip lines. In addition, we explore experimentally the magnetic braking effects, caused by a thick Cu layer deposited on top of the superconductor, on the instabilities and the vortex ratchet effect

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Disrupting the wall accumulation of human sperm cells by artificial corrugation

Many self-propelled microorganisms are attracted to surfaces. This makes their dynamics in restricted geometries very different from that observed in the bulk. Swimming along walls is beneficial for directing and sorting cells, but may be detrimental if homogeneous populations are desired, such as in counting microchambers. In this work, we characterize the motion of human sperm cells $60 μm$ long, strongly confined to $25 μm$ shallow chambers. We investigate the nature of the cell trajectories between the confining surfaces and their accumulation near the borders. Observed cell trajectories are composed of a succession of quasi-circular and quasi-linear segments. This suggests that the cells follow a path of intermittent trappings near the top and bottom surfaces separated by stretches of quasi-free motion in between the two surfaces, as confirmed by depth resolved confocal microscopy studies. We show that the introduction of artificial petal-shaped corrugation in the lateral boundaries removes the tendency of cells to accumulate near the borders, an effect which we hypothesize may be valuable for microfluidic applications in biomedicine.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Spin reversal in Fe8 under fast pulsed magnetic fields

We report measurements on magnetization reversal in the Fe$_8$ molecular magnet using fast pulsed magnetic fields of 1.5 kT/s and in the temperature range of 0.6-4.1 K. We observe and analyze the temperature dependence of the reversal process, which involves in some cases several resonances. Our experiments allow observation of resonant quantum tunneling of magnetization up to a temperature of $\sim$ 4 K. We also observe shifts of the resonance fields in temperature that suggest the emergence of a thermal instability---a combination of spin reversal and self-heating that may result in a magnetic deflagration process. The results are mainly understood in the framework of thermally-activated quantum tunneling transitions in combination with emergence of a thermal instability.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Temperature dependence of lower critical field Hc1(T) shows nodeless superconductivity in FeSe

We investigate the temperature dependence of the lower critical field Hc1(T) of a high-quality FeSe single crystal under static magnetic fields H parallel to the c axis. The temperature dependence of the first vortex penetration field has been experimentally obtained by two independent methods and the corresponding Hc1(T) was deduced by taking into account demagnetization factors. A pronounced change in the Hc1(T) curvature is observed, which is attributed to anisotopic s-wave or multiband superconductivity. The London penetration depth λab(T) calculated from the lower critical field does not follow an exponential behavior at low temperatures, as it would be expected for a fully gapped clean s-wave superconductor. Using either a two-band model with s-wave-like gaps of magnitudes ?delta 1 = 0.41 meV and delta ?2 = 3.33 meV or a single anisotropic s-wave order parameter, the temperature dependence of the lower critical field Hc1(T) can be well described. These observations clearly show that the superconducting energy gap in FeSe is nodeless.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Lower critical field and SNS-Andreev spectroscopy of 122-arsenides: Evidence of nodeless superconducting gap

Using two experimental techniques, we studied single crystals of the 122-FeAs family with almost the same critical temperature, Tc. We investigated the temperature dependence of the lower critical field of a single crystal under static magnetic fields parallel to the axis. The temperature dependence of the London penetration depth can be described equally well either by a single anisotropic -wave-like gap or by a two-gap model, while a d-wave approach cannot be used to fit the London penetration depth data. Intrinsic multiple Andreev reflection effect spectroscopy was used to detect bulk gap values in single crystals of the intimate compound, with the same Tc. We estimated the range of the large gap value 6-8 meV (depending on small variation of and its a space anisotropy of about 30%, and the small gap 1.7 meV. This clearly indicates that the gap structure of our investigated systems more likely corresponds to a nodeless s-wave two gaps.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Resistive switching in ultra-thin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 / SrRuO3 superlattices

Superlattices may play an important role in next generation electronic and spintronic devices if the key-challenge of the reading and writing data can be solved. This challenge emerges from the coupling of low dimensional individual layers with macroscopic world. Here we report the study of the resistive switching characteristics of a of hybrid structure made out of a superlattice with ultrathin layers of two ferromagnetic metallic oxides, La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) and SrRuO3 (SRO). Bipolar resistive switching memory effects are measured on these LSMO/SRO superlattices, and the observed switching is explainable by ohmic and space charge-limited conduction laws. It is evident from the endurance characteristics that the on/off memory window of the cell is greater than 14, which indicates that this cell can reliably distinguish the stored information between high and low resistance states. The findings may pave a way to the construction of devices based on nonvolatile resistive memory effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

A closer look at the low frequency dynamics of vortex matter

Using scanning susceptibility microscopy, we shed new light on the dynamics of individual superconducting vortices and examine the hypotheses of the phenomenological models traditionally used to explain the macroscopic ac electromagnetic properties of superconductors. The measurements, carried out on a 2H-NbSe$_2$ single crystal at relatively high temperature $T=6.8$ K, show a linear amplitude dependence of the global ac-susceptibility for excitation amplitudes between 0.3 and 2.6 Oe. We observe that the low amplitude behavior, typically attributed to the shaking of vortices in a potential well defined by a single, relaxing, Labusch constant, corresponds actually to strongly non-uniform vortex shaking. This is particularly accentuated in the field-cooled disordered phase, which undergoes a dynamic reorganization above 0.8 Oe as evidenced by the healing of lattice defects and a more uniform oscillation of vortices. These observations are corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations when choosing the microscopic input parameters from the experiments. The theoretical simulations allow us to reconstruct the vortex trajectories providing deeper insight in the thermally induced hopping dynamics and the vortex lattice reordering.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Geometrical guidance and trapping transition of human sperm cells

The guidance of human sperm cells under confinement in quasi 2D microchambers is investigated using a purely physical method to control their distribution. Transport property measurements and simulations are performed with dilute sperm populations, for which effects of geometrical guidance and concentration are studied in detail. In particular, a trapping transition at convex angular wall features is identified and analyzed. We also show that highly efficient microratchets can be fabricated by using curved asymmetric obstacles to take advantage of the spermatozoa specific swimming strategy.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Double criticality in the magnetic field-driven transition of a high-TC superconductor

Driving a two-dimensional superconductor normal by applying a high magnetic field may lead to Cooper pair localization. In this case, there should be a quantum critical point associated with specific scaling laws. Such a transition has been evidenced in a number of low critical temperature superconducting thin films and has been suggested to occur also in high temperature cuprate superconductors. Here we show experimental evidence for two distinct quantum critical regimes when applying perpendicular magnetic fields to underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 thin films. At intermediate values of the magnetic field (18T-20T), a "ghost" QCP is observed, for which the values of the related critical exponents point towards a fermionic -as opposed to bosonic- scenario. At higher (about 37 T) magnetic field, another QCP is observed, which suggests the existence of either a 2D/3D or a clean/dirty temperature crossover.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Influence of swimming strategy on microorganism separation by asymmetric obstacles

It has been shown that a nanoliter chamber separated by a wall of asymmetric obstacles can lead to an inhomogeneous distribution of self-propelled microorganisms. Although it is well established that this rectification effect arises from the interaction between the swimmers and the non-centrosymmetric pillars, here we demonstrate numerically that its efficiency is strongly dependent on the detailed dynamics of the individual microorganism. In particular, for the case of run-and-tumble dynamics, the distribution of run lengths, the rotational diffusion and the partial preservation of run orientation memory through a tumble are important factors when computing the rectification efficiency. In addition, we optimize the geometrical dimensions of the asymmetric pillars in order to maximize the swimmer concentration and we illustrate how it can be used for sorting by swimming strategy in a long array of parallel obstacles.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2013

Enhancement of pinning properties of superconducting thin films by graded pinning landscapes

A graded distribution of pinning centers (antidots) in superconducting MoGe thin films has been investigated by magnetization and magneto-optical imaging. The pinning landscape has maximum density at the border, decreasing progressively towards the center. At high temperatures and low fields, where this landscape mimics the vortex distribution predicted by the Bean model, an increase of the critical current is observed. At low temperatures and fields, the superconducting performance of the non-uniform sample is also improved due to suppression of thermomagnetic avalanches. These findings emphasize the relevance of non-uniform pinning landscapes, so far experimentally unexplored, on the enhancement of pinning efficiency.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Superconducting properties of corner-shaped Al microstrips

The electrical transport properties of corner-shaped Al superconducting microstrips have been investigated. We demonstrate that the sharp turns lead to asymmetric vortex dynamics, allowing for easier penetration from the inner concave angle than from the outer convex angle. This effect is evidenced by a strong rectification of the voltage signal otherwise absent in straight superconducting strips. At low magnetic fields, an enhancement of the critical current with increasing magnetic field is observed for a particular combination of field and current polarity, confirming a recently theoretically predicted competing interplay of superconducting screening currents and applied currents at the inner side of the turn.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Stable "antiferromagnetic" vortex lattice imprinted into a type-II superconductor

In type-II superconductors, where vortices and antivortices tend to annihilate, only a "ferromagnetic" vortex lattice, with the same orientation of vortex magnetic moments, is usually formed in a homogeneous external magnetic field. Using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau formalism, we demonstrate that a checkerboard vortex-antivortex lattice ("antiferromagnetic vortex lattice"), imprinted onto a superconducting film by a periodic array of underlying clockwise and counterclockwise microcoils generating spatially periodic positive and negative magnetic field pulses and then trapped by an array of artificial pinning centers, remains stable even after the imprinting magnetic field pulse is switched off.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the vortex dynamics in superconducting hollow cylinders

Using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory we demonstrate that the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, resulting from a Berry phase shift of the (macroscopic) wavefunction, is revealed through the dynamics of topological phase defects present in that same wavefunction. We study vortices and antivortices on the surface of a hollow superconducting cylinder, moving on circular orbits as they are subjected to the force from the current flowing parallel to the cylinder axis. Due to the AB effect the orbit deflections, caused by a magnetic field component along the cylinder axis, become periodic as a function of field, leading to strong and robust resistance oscillations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗