Enhanced pinning in superconducting thin films with graded pinning landscapes

Authors

M Motta, Federal University Of Sao Carlos, Brazil
F Colauto, Federal University Of Sao Carlos, Brazil
W A. Ortiz, Federal University Of Sao Carlos, Brazil
J Fritzsche, Chalmers University Of Technology, Sweden
J Cuppens, Catholic University of Leuven
W Gillijns, Catholic University of Leuven
V V. Moshchalkov, Catholic University of Leuven
T H. Johansen, University of WollongongFollow
A W Sanchez, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
A Silhanek, University of Liege

RIS ID

79933

Publication Details

Motta, M., Colauto, F., Ortiz, W. A., Fritzsche, J., Cuppens, J., Gillijns, W., Moshchalkov, V. V., Johansen, T. H., Sanchez, A. & Silhanek, A. (2013). Enhanced pinning in superconducting thin films with graded pinning landscapes. Applied Physics Letters, 102 (21), 212601-1-212601-5.

Abstract

A graded distribution of antidots in superconducting a-Mo 79Ge21 thin films has been investigated by magnetization and magneto-optical imaging measurements. The pinning landscape has maximum density at the sample border, decreasing linearly towards the center. Its overall performance is noticeably superior than that for a sample with uniformly distributed antidots: For high temperatures and low fields, the critical current is enhanced, whereas the region of thermomagnetic instabilities in the field-temperature diagram is significantly suppressed. These findings confirm the relevance of graded landscapes on the enhancement of pinning efficiency, as recently predicted by Misko and Nori [Phys. Rev. B 85, 184506 (2012)]. 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.