Optical manipulation of single flux quanta

Veshchunov, Ivan S.; Magrini, William; Миронов, С. В.; Godin, Antoine G.; Trebbia, Jean-Baptiste; Buzdin, Alexandre I.; Tamarat, Philippe; Lounis, Brahim

doi:10.1038/ncomms12801

Cited by 88 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Taking J c = 0.7 × 10 6 A/cm 2 which is relevant to the samples in Ref. [46] we find that f p ∼ 10 pN/μm. Thus, to neglect the vortex attraction to the sample boundaries one needs F att f p t, which is realized for |y v − w| 0.2w ∼ 300 nm.…”

Section: Optically Controlled 0-π Transitions In Thin Planar Josementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently it was experimentally demonstrated that the position of a single Abrikosov vortex can be controlled by the tip of the magnetic force microscope [43,44], the electron beam [41], the probe of the scanning tunneling microscope [45], or the focused laser beam [46]. The latter technique allows the ultrafast optically controlled positioning of an individual Abrikosov vortex which opens a new avenue for the design of novel optoelectronic superconducting devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, qualitatively the formation of φ 0 junctions should remain possible also in the intermediate regime t ∼ λ which is realized in typical experiments on the optical manipulation of vortices [46].…”

Section: Arbitrary Position Of the Vortexmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In experiment the vortex has been successfully moved at the distances ∼1 μm comparable to the laser beam radius r 0 ∼ 0.4 μm [46], so it is reasonable to choose the position of the pinning centers y A = 0.8w and y B = 1.2w so that the distance between them is y ∼ 600 nm.…”

Section: Optically Controlled 0-π Transitions In Thin Planar Josementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this case the vortex currents flowing parallel to the plane of the junction induce two-dimensional phase profiles which can modify the Fraunhofer oscillations of the critical current and current-voltage characteristics, create nonquantized Josephson vortices, or even induce the nonzero ground state Josephson phase [35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. A similar situations is realized when such JJ is affected by the magnetic field of a small magnetic particle [42].Recently it was experimentally demonstrated that the position of a single Abrikosov vortex can be controlled by the tip of the magnetic force microscope [43,44], the electron beam [41], the probe of the scanning tunneling microscope [45], or the focused laser beam [46]. The latter technique allows the ultrafast optically controlled positioning of an individual Abrikosov vortex which opens a new avenue for the design of novel optoelectronic superconducting devices.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Anomalous Josephson effect controlled by an Abrikosov vortex

et al. 2017

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The possibility of a fast and precise Abrikosov vortex manipulation by a focused laser beam opens the way to create laser-driven Josephson junctions. We theoretically demonstrate that a vortex pinned in the vicinity of the Josephson junction generates an arbitrary ground state phase which can be equal not only to 0 or π but to any desired ϕ 0 value in between. Such ϕ 0 junctions have many peculiar properties and may be effectively controlled by the optically driven Abrikosov vortex. Also we theoretically show that the Josephson junction with the embedded vortex can serve as an ultrafast memory cell operating at sub THz frequencies. I. INTRODUCTIONJosephson junctions (JJs) with nonzero spontaneous phase difference between the superconducting electrodes in the ground state (the so-called π , ϕ 0 , and ϕ JJs) have become the subject of intensive theoretical and experimental study during the past decade [1,2]. The most striking feature of such junctions is their ability to generate a current in the superconducting circuit, thus acting as a phase battery [3][4][5][6]. In addition, relatively small variation of the system parameters may provoke dramatic changes in the ground state phase difference, which is believed to provide new effective tools for controlling the currents in microelectronic devices (see, e.g., Refs. [7,8]).There are several generic mechanisms leading to the spontaneous appearance of nonzero Josephson phase. The basic one reveals when the superconducting (S) electrodes are separated by a ferromagnetic (F) layer. The exchange field inside the ferromagnet produces the spatial oscillations of the Cooper pair wave function, and depending on the ratio between the oscillation period and the F-layer thickness the ground state phase is equal to 0 or π (these cases are referred as 0 or π JJs, respectively) [9][10][11]. A peculiar situation is realized when the thickness d of the ferromagnet varies along the junction in a way that in some parts of the ferromagnet the value of d corresponds to the 0 state while in other parts to the π state (see Ref. [12] and references therein). If there is only a slight difference between the areas of the "0" and "π " regions the phase frustration can result in the appearance of a state with the spontaneous phase difference φ = ±ϕ = 0,π which is degenerate (ϕ JJ) (see Ref.[13] and references therein). A similar effect takes place in Josephson junctions with the current injectors acting as an effective source of the phase jumps along the junction (see and references therein). One can also obtain a ϕ 0 JJ, where the ground state phase φ = ϕ 0 is not degenerate, e.g., using the JJs with broken inversion symmetry [17]. In this case the superconducting current I through the junction should not be necessarily an odd function of the phase difference φ and can take the form I = I c sin(φ + ϕ 0 ) [17]. Such situation is realized in the S|F|S junctions with strong spin-orbit coupling (see and references therein) or complicated noncollinear distribution of the magnetization (see an...

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Section: Optically Controlled 0-π Transitions In Thin Planar Josementioning

confidence: 99%