Self-assembled vortex crystals induced by inhomogeneous magnetic textures

We investigate the self-assembly of vortices in a type-II superconducting disk subjected to highly nonuniform confining potentials produced by inhomogeneous magnetic textures. Using a series of numerical experiments performed within the Ginzburg-Landau theory, we show that vortices can arrange spont...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Menezes, Raí M., Sardella, Edson [UNESP], Cabral, Leonardo R.E., De Souza Silva, Clécio C.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/190190
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ab035a
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/190190
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:conformal crystals
frustrated crystals
topological defects
Vortex phases
Descripción
Sumario:We investigate the self-assembly of vortices in a type-II superconducting disk subjected to highly nonuniform confining potentials produced by inhomogeneous magnetic textures. Using a series of numerical experiments performed within the Ginzburg-Landau theory, we show that vortices can arrange spontaneously in highly nonuniform, defect-free crystals, reminiscent of conformal lattices, even though the strict conditions for the conformal crystal are not fulfilled. These results contradict continuum-limit theory, which predicts that the order of a nonuniform crystal is unavoidably frustrated by the presence of topological defects. By testing different cooling routes of the superconductor, we observed several different self-assembled configurations, each of which corresponding to one in a set of allowed conformal transformations, which depends on the magnetic and thermal histories of the system.