Direct Observation of Rectified Motion of Vortices in a Niobium Superconductor

Yoshihiko Togawa, Ken Harada, Tetsuya Akashi, Hiroto Kasai, Tsuyoshi Matsuda, Franco Nori, Atsutaka Maeda, and Akira Tonomura
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 087002 – Published 17 August 2005

Abstract

Using Lorentz microscopy to directly image vortices, we investigate vortex motion control and rectification in a niobium superconductor. We directly observe a net motion of vortices along microfabricated channels with a spatially asymmetric potential, even though the vortices were driven by an oscillatory field. By observing the individual motion of vortices, we clarify elementary processes involved in this rectification. To further demonstrate the ability to control the motion of vortices, we created a tiny vortex “racetrack” to monitor the motion of vortices in a closed circuit channel.

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  • Received 10 September 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.087002

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Yoshihiko Togawa1,*, Ken Harada1,2, Tetsuya Akashi3, Hiroto Kasai1,2, Tsuyoshi Matsuda1,4, Franco Nori1,5, Atsutaka Maeda1,6, and Akira Tonomura1,2

  • 1Frontier Research System, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Hatoyama, Saitama 350-0395, Japan
  • 2Advanced Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., Akanuma, Hatoyama, Saitama 350-0395, Japan
  • 3Hitachi Instruments Service Co.,Ltd., Yotsuya, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004, Japan
  • 4Hitachi Science Systems, Ltd., Ishikawa, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki 312-0057, Japan
  • 5Department of Physics, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120, USA
  • 6Department of Basic Science, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan

  • *Electronic address: ytogawa@harl.hitachi.co.jp

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 8 — 19 August 2005

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