Probing Abrikosov vortices in niobium with single nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds
Abrikosov vortices play a fundamental role in the magnetic and electric properties of superconductors. The study of their pinning forces is essential to better understand the stability of vortex lattices, with the aim of increasing critical currents in superconductors. However, the study of vortices is challenging because of their nanometric sizes and the large variation in the pinning forces. In this Letter, we use a single nitrogen-vacancy center in a nanodiamond as a nanoscale magneto sensor to locally probe single vortices and their pinning effects in a thin niobium film. This simple, far-field optical approach also offers the possibility of manipulating a single spin with a single flux quantum.
Authors
- Brahim Lounis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7501-0236)
- Lei Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1077-6147)
- Siddharatha Thakur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7616-7964)
- Philippe Tamarat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8567-2962)
- A. I. Buzdin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7615-8785)
- Malo Bézard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5700-6820)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université de Bordeaux (FR)
- Institut d’Optique Graduate School (FR)
- Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences (FR)
- Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Physics Letters
- Published
- 2024-11-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0244336
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.23
Funders
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme