Abrikosov vortex escape from a columnar defect as a topological electronic transition in vortex core

Abstract

We study microscopic scenario of vortex escape from a columnar defect under the influence of a transport current. For defect radii smaller than the superconducting coherence length the depinning process is shown to be a consequence of two subsequent topological electronic transitions in a trapped vortex core. The first transition at a critical current $j_L$ is associated with the opening of Fermi surface segments corresponding to the creation of a vortex--antivortex pair bound to the defect. The second transition at a certain current $j_d>j_L$ is caused by merging of different Fermi surface segments, which accompanies the formation of a freely moving vortex.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Electronic Structure of Vortices Pinned by Columnar Defects

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Topological transitions in electronic spectra: Crossover between Abrikosov and Josephson vortices
• Quasiparticle spectra of Abrikosov vortices in a uniform supercurrent flow