Thickness-modulated tungsten-carbon superconducting nanostructures grown by focused ion beam induced deposition for vortex pinning up to high magnetic fields.

ABSTRACT: We report efficient vortex pinning in thickness-modulated tungsten-carbon-based (W-C) nanostructures grown by focused ion beam induced deposition (FIBID). By using FIBID, W-C superconducting films have been created with thickness modulation properties exhibiting periodicity from 60 to 140 nm, leading to a strong pinning potential for the vortex lattice. This produces local minima in the resistivity up to high magnetic fields (2.2 T) in a broad temperature range due to commensurability effects between the pinning potential and the vortex lattice. The results show that the combination of single-step FIBID fabrication of superconducting nanostructures with built-in artificial pinning landscapes and the small intrinsic random pinning potential of this material produces strong periodic pinning

SUBMITTER: Serrano IG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5238659 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature