Visualizing the elongated vortices in $\gamma$-Ga nanostrips

Abstract

We study the magnetic response of superconducting $\gamma$-Ga via low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The magnetic vortex cores rely substantially on the Ga geometry, and exhibit an unexpectedly-large axial elongation with aspect ratio up to 40 in rectangular Ga nano-strips (width $l$ $<$ 100 nm). This is in stark contrast with the isotropic circular vortex core in a larger round-shaped Ga island. We suggest that the unusual elongated vortices in Ga nanostrips originate from geometric confinement effect probably via the strong repulsive interaction between the vortices and Meissner screening currents at the sample edge. Our finding provides novel conceptual insights into the geometrical confinement effect on magnetic vortices and forms the basis for the technological applications of superconductors.

published in Phys. Rev. B as a Rapid Communication

References in corpus (7)

• Visualizing Nodal Heavy Fermion Superconductivity in CeCoIn5
• Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy of Vortices in LiFeAs
• Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy on the novel superconductor CaC6
• Symmetric and non-symmetric vortex-antivortex molecules in fourfold superconducting geometry
• Anisotropic Superconducting Gap and Elongated Vortices with Caroli-De-Gennes-Matricon States in the New Superconductor Ta4Pd3Te16
• Weber blockade in superconducting nanowires
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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Tuning Bound States of Symmetry-Breaking Vortices via Unidirectional Charge Density Wave in a Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Superconductor
• Anomalous superconducting proximity effect of planar Pb-RhPb2 heterojunctions in the clean limit