{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Gutfreund A"],"funding":["RCUK | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)","European Research Council"],"pagination":["1630"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10036628"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["14(1)"],"pubmed_abstract":["The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity can lead to unconventional proximity and Josephson effects. A related phenomenon that has recently attracted considerable attention is the superconducting diode effect, in which a nonreciprocal critical current emerges. Although superconducting diodes based on superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) bilayers were demonstrated more than a decade ago, the precise underlying mechanism remains unclear. While not formally linked to this effect, the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinikov (FFLO) state is a plausible mechanism due to the twofold rotational symmetry breaking caused by the finite center-of-mass-momentum of the Cooper pairs. Here, we directly observe asymmetric vortex dynamics that uncover the mechanism behind the superconducting vortex diode effect in Nb/EuS (S/F) bilayers. Based on our nanoscale SQUID-on-tip (SOT) microscope and supported by in-situ transport measurements, we propose a theoretical model that captures our key results. The key conclusion of our model is that screening currents induced by the stray fields from the F layer are responsible for the measured nonreciprocal critical current. Thus, we determine the origin of the vortex diode effect, which builds a foundation for new device concepts."],"journal":["Nature communications"],"pubmed_title":["Direct observation of a superconducting vortex diode."],"pmcid":["PMC10036628"],"funding_grant_id":["802952","EP/P026311/1)"],"pubmed_authors":["Yang G","Matsuki H","Plastovets V","Millo O","Gutfreund A","Gorzawski L","Robinson JWA","Noah A","Buzdin A","Anahory Y","Fridman N"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Direct observation of a superconducting vortex diode.","description":"The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity can lead to unconventional proximity and Josephson effects. A related phenomenon that has recently attracted considerable attention is the superconducting diode effect, in which a nonreciprocal critical current emerges. Although superconducting diodes based on superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) bilayers were demonstrated more than a decade ago, the precise underlying mechanism remains unclear. While not formally linked to this effect, the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinikov (FFLO) state is a plausible mechanism due to the twofold rotational symmetry breaking caused by the finite center-of-mass-momentum of the Cooper pairs. Here, we directly observe asymmetric vortex dynamics that uncover the mechanism behind the superconducting vortex diode effect in Nb/EuS (S/F) bilayers. Based on our nanoscale SQUID-on-tip (SOT) microscope and supported by in-situ transport measurements, we propose a theoretical model that captures our key results. The key conclusion of our model is that screening currents induced by the stray fields from the F layer are responsible for the measured nonreciprocal critical current. Thus, we determine the origin of the vortex diode effect, which builds a foundation for new device concepts.","dates":{"release":"2023-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2023 Mar","modification":"2025-04-18T17:20:07.935Z","creation":"2025-04-07T04:52:38.744Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC10036628","cross_references":{"pubmed":["36959184"],"doi":["10.1038/s41467-023-37294-2"]}}