Controllable morphology of flux avalanches in microstructured superconductors

M. Motta; F. Colauto; J. I. Vestgården; J. Fritzsche; M. Timmermans; J. Cuppens; C. Attanasio; C. Cirillo; V. V. Moshchalkov; J. Van de Vondel; T. H. Johansen; W. A. Ortiz; A. V. Silhanek

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.89.134508

Controllable morphology of flux avalanches in microstructured superconductors

M. Motta, F. Colauto, J. I. Vestgården, J. Fritzsche, M. Timmermans, J. Cuppens, C. Attanasio, C. Cirillo, V. V. Moshchalkov, J. Van de Vondel, T. H. Johansen, W. A. Ortiz, A. V. Silhanek

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.89.134508 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

The morphology of abrupt bursts of magnetic flux into superconducting films with engineered periodic pinning centers (antidots) has been investigated. Guided flux avalanches of thermomagnetic origin develop a treelike structure, with the main trunk perpendicular to the borders of the sample, while secondary branches follow well-defined directions determined by the geometrical details of the underlying periodic pinning landscape. Strikingly, we demonstrate that in a superconductor with relatively weak random pinning the morphology of such flux avalanches can be fully controlled by proper combinations of lattice symmetry and antidot geometry. Moreover, the resulting flux patterns can be reproduced, to the finest details, by simulations based on a phenomenological thermomagnetic model. In turn, this model can be used to predict such complex structures and to estimate physical variables of more difficult experimental access, such as the local values of temperature and electric field.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
Mo79Ge21 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	6.7	Pressure not reported	unknown
Mo79Ge21 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	6.2	Pressure not reported	unknown
Nb Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	8.3	Pressure not reported	unknown
Nb Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	6.8	Pressure not reported	unknown