Josephson vortices at tricrystal boundaries

V. G. Kogan; J. R. Clem; J. R. Kirtley

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.61.9122

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Josephson vortices at tricrystal boundaries

V. G. Kogan, J. R. Clem, J. R. Kirtley

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.61.9122 · Physical Review B

T1

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Abstract

Josephson vortices at tricrystal boundaries with and without a π junction in zero applied field are considered. It is shown that if the three tricrystal arms are conventional junctions, a one-flux-quantum φ0 vortex at or near the intersection has lower energy than one far from the intersection. If the largest Josephson length exceeds the sum of the other two, the tricrystal ceases to be a pinning site. If one of the tricrystal arms is a π junction, a φ0/2 vortex at the intersection is the ground state of the system, and an even number of φ0/2 vortices is forbidden, whereas 3φ0/2 and 5φ0/2 correspond to possible but, in general, metastable states. For certain combinations of Josephson lengths, the 3φ0/2 state has lower energy than the combined energy of the φ0/2 vortex at the tricrystal joint and a φ0 vortex far from the joint. Conditions are discussed under which the 3φ0/2 vortex can be observed.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
YBCO Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown