Abstract
We have studied the critical current as a function of magnetic field in short and narrow superconducting aluminum nanowires. In the range of magnetic fields in which vortices can enter a nanowire in a single row, we find regular oscillations of the critical current as a function of magnetic field, with each oscillation corresponding to adding a single vortex to the nanowire. In this regime, the nanowires behave as quantum dots for vortices. As a function of current and magnetic field, we find diamond-shaped regions in which the resistance is zero and the number of vortices is fixed.
- Received 26 August 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.077002
© 2015 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Vortices Queue Up in a Nanowire
Published 18 February 2015
An applied field can control the entry and exit of single quanta of magnetic flux in superconducting nanowires.
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