Vortex pinning by meandering line defects in planar superconductors

Abstract

To better understand vortex pinning in thin superconducting slabs, we study the interaction of a single fluctuating vortex filament with a curved line defect in (1+1) dimensions. This problem is also relevant to the interaction of scratches with wandering step edges in vicinal surfaces. The equilibrium probability density for a fluctuating line attracted to a particular fixed defect trajectory is derived analytically by mapping the problem to a straight line defect in the presence of a space and time-varying external tilt field. The consequences of both rapid and slow changes in the frozen defect trajectory, as well as finite size effects are discussed. A sudden change in the defect direction leads to a delocalization transition, accompanied by a divergence in the trapping length, near a critical angle.

arXiv comment9 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Vortex Pinning and Non-Hermitian Quantum Mechanics
• The Quantum Adiabatic Approximation and the Geometric Phase
• Non-Hermitian Luttinger liquids and flux line pinning in planar superconductors
• Non-Hermitian Luttinger Liquids and Vortex Physics
• Competition between point and columnar disorder on the behavior of flux lines in 1+1 dimension

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Effects of kinked linear defects on planar flux line arrays