Flow of a single magnetic vortex in a submicron-size superconducting Al disk controlled by radio-frequency currents

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Aug 12;107(7):077002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.077002. Epub 2011 Aug 9.

Abstract

We report the first observation of a single-vortex flow in a mesoscopic superconductor. A flow of a single vortex is successfully controlled by an rf current superimposed on a dc current, evidence of which is provided by voltage steps in current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. Irrespective of the number of vortices confined to the disk, we unambiguously observe that when a single vortex inside the disk is driven out of the disk, another vortex enters the disk similarly to two balls colliding in billiards: only one vortex passes through the Al disk at the same time in mesoscopic systems.