Controlled Vortex Formation at Nanostructured Superconductor/Ferromagnetic Junctions

Abstract

Stability and transport properties of superconducting/insulating/ferromagnetic nanostructures are decisively affected by vortex formation in the superconductor. Herein, the emergence of such vortices due to finite size and geometric effects is studied using a Landau–Ginzburg approach coupled to the magnetic layer via its stray field. Numerical simulations based on the finite-element method evidence that magnetic vortices can be induced and coupled to each others upon appropriate nanostructuring of the magnetic films. These findings are of immediate relevance to transport properties of such structures.