Thermally driven inhibition of superconducting vortex avalanches

Abstract

Complex systems close to their critical state can exhibit abrupt transitions, avalanches, between their metastable states. It is a challenging task to understand the mechanism of the avalanches and control their behavior. Here we investigate microwave (mw) stimulation of avalanches in the so- called vortex matter of type II superconductors, a system of interacting Abrikosov vortices close to the critical (Bean) state. Our main finding is that the avalanche incubation strongly depends on the excitation frequency, a completely unexpected behavior observed close to the so-called depinning frequencies. Namely, the triggered vortex avalanches in Pb superconducting films become effectively inhibited approaching the critical temperature or critical magnetic field when the mw stimulus is close to the vortex depinning frequency. We suggest a simple model explaining the observed counter- intuitive behaviors as a manifestation of the strongly nonlinear dependence of the driven vortex core size on the mw excitation intensity. This paves the way to controlling avalanches in complex systems through their nonlinear response.

References in corpus (8)

• Dendritic magnetic instability in superconducting MgB2 films
• Avalanche amplification of a single exciton in a semiconductor nanowire
• Finger patterns produced by thermomagnetic instability in superconductors
• Avalanches in wood compression
• Current-induced dendritic magnetic instability in superconducting MgB2 films
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• Auditory power-law activation-avalanches exhibit a fundamental computational ground-state
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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Ultra-fast vortex motion in dirty Nb-C superconductor with a close-to-perfect edge barrier
• Local flux-flow instability in superconducting films near Tc
• Supersonic dynamics of guided magnetic flux quanta
• Radiofrequency generation by coherently moving fluxons
• Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau Simulations of Superconducting Vortices in Three Dimensions
• Impact of border defects on the magnetic flux penetration in superconducting films
• Quantum thermodynamics with a single superconducting vortex
• Fast Dynamics of Vortices in Superconductors
• Active control of thermomagnetic avalanches in superconducting Nb films with tunable anisotropy
• Interfacial control of vortex-limited critical current in type II superconductor films
• Vortex Dynamics in Amorphous MoSi Superconducting Thin Films