Vortex-antivortex nucleation in magnetically nanotextured superconductors: magnetic-field-driven and thermal scenarios

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Jun 10;94(22):227001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.227001. Epub 2005 Jun 6.

Abstract

Within the Ginzburg-Landau formalism, we predict two novel mechanisms of vortex-antivortex nucleation in a magnetically nanostructured superconductor. Although counterintuitive, nucleation of vortex-antivortex pairs can be activated in a superconducting (SC) film covered by arrays of submicron ferromagnets (FMs) when exposed to an external homogeneous magnetic field. In another scenario, we predict the thermal induction of vortex-antivortex configurations in SC-FM samples. This phenomenon leads to a new type of Little-Parks oscillations of the FM magnetization-temperature phase boundary of the SC film.