Rising Speed Limits for Fluxons via Edge-Quality Improvement in Wide MoSi Thin Films

Barbora Budinská; B. Aichner; D. Yu Vodolazov; M. Yu Mikhailov; F. Porrati; M. Huth; A. V. Chumak; W. Lang; O. V. Dobrovolskiy

doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.034072

Rising Speed Limits for Fluxons via Edge-Quality Improvement in Wide MoSi Thin Films

Barbora Budinská (Corresponding author)
, B. Aichner
, D. Yu Vodolazov
, M. Yu Mikhailov
, F. Porrati
, M. Huth
, A. V. Chumak
, W. Lang
, O. V. Dobrovolskiy (Corresponding author)

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Ultrafast vortex motion has recently become a subject of extensive investigations, triggered by the fundamental question regarding the ultimate speed limits for magnetic flux quanta and enhancements of single-photon detectors. In this regard, the current-biased quench of a dynamic flux-flow regime—flux-flow instability (FFI)—has turned into a widely used method for the extraction of information about the relaxation of quasiparticles (unpaired electrons) in a superconductor. However, the large relaxation times 𝜏𝜖 deduced from FFI for many superconductors are often inconsistent with the fast relaxation processes implied by their single-photon counting capability. Here, we investigate FFI in 15-nm-thick 182-𝜇⁢m-wide MoSi strips with rough and smooth edges produced by laser etching and milling by a focused ion beam. For the strip with smooth edges we deduce, from current-voltage (𝐼-𝑉) curve measurements, a factor of 3 larger critical currents 𝐼𝑐, a factor of 20 higher maximal vortex velocities of 20 km/s, and a factor of 20 shorter 𝜏𝜖. We argue that for the deduction of the intrinsic 𝜏𝜖 of the material from the 𝐼-𝑉 curves, utmost care should be taken regarding the edge and sample quality and such a deduction is justified only if the field dependence of 𝐼𝑐 points to the dominating edge pinning of vortices.

Original language	English
Article number	034072
Number of pages	12
Journal	Physical Review Applied
Volume	17
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.034072
Publication status	Published - 30 Mar 2022

Funding

The authors thank Roland Sachser for support with the nanofabrication. B.B. and B.A. acknowledge financial support by the Vienna Doctoral School in Physics (VDSP). D.Y.V. acknowledges support by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), Grant No. 18-29-20100. M.Yu.M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H. Support through the Frankfurt Center of Electron Microscopy (FCEM) and by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology via COST Actions CA16218 (NANOCOHYBRI) and CA19108 (HiSCALE) is gratefully acknowledged. M. Yu. M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H, and the WPI Scholarship within the framework of the Pauli Ukraine Project. This research is funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Grant No. I 4865-N. For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103033 Superconductivity
103018 Materials physics

Keywords

CURRENT-CARRYING SUPERCONDUCTORS
ELECTRONIC INSTABILITY
VORTEX ENTRY

Access to Document

10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.034072Licence: CC BY 4.0

https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.13431Licence: Other

Cite this

@article{ce434ff3eb9b46668c7061e46995bbe7,

title = "Rising Speed Limits for Fluxons via Edge-Quality Improvement in Wide MoSi Thin Films",

abstract = "Ultrafast vortex motion has recently become a subject of extensive investigations, triggered by the fundamental question regarding the ultimate speed limits for magnetic flux quanta and enhancements of single-photon detectors. In this regard, the current-biased quench of a dynamic flux-flow regime—flux-flow instability (FFI)—has turned into a widely used method for the extraction of information about the relaxation of quasiparticles (unpaired electrons) in a superconductor. However, the large relaxation times 휏휖 deduced from FFI for many superconductors are often inconsistent with the fast relaxation processes implied by their single-photon counting capability. Here, we investigate FFI in 15-nm-thick 182-휇⁢m-wide MoSi strips with rough and smooth edges produced by laser etching and milling by a focused ion beam. For the strip with smooth edges we deduce, from current-voltage (퐼-푉) curve measurements, a factor of 3 larger critical currents 퐼푐, a factor of 20 higher maximal vortex velocities of 20 km/s, and a factor of 20 shorter 휏휖. We argue that for the deduction of the intrinsic 휏휖 of the material from the 퐼-푉 curves, utmost care should be taken regarding the edge and sample quality and such a deduction is justified only if the field dependence of 퐼푐 points to the dominating edge pinning of vortices.",

keywords = "CURRENT-CARRYING SUPERCONDUCTORS, ELECTRONIC INSTABILITY, VORTEX ENTRY",

author = "Barbora Budinsk{\'a} and B. Aichner and Vodolazov, \{D. Yu\} and Mikhailov, \{M. Yu\} and F. Porrati and M. Huth and Chumak, \{A. V.\} and W. Lang and Dobrovolskiy, \{O. V.\}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank Roland Sachser for support with the nanofabrication. B.B. and B.A. acknowledge financial support by the Vienna Doctoral School in Physics (VDSP). D.Y.V. acknowledges support by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), Grant No. 18-29-20100. M.Yu.M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H. Support through the Frankfurt Center of Electron Microscopy (FCEM) and by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology via COST Actions CA16218 (NANOCOHYBRI) and CA19108 (HiSCALE) is gratefully acknowledged. M. Yu. M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H, and the WPI Scholarship within the framework of the Pauli Ukraine Project. This research is funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Grant No. I 4865-N. For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.",

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AU - Budinská, Barbora

AU - Aichner, B.

AU - Vodolazov, D. Yu

AU - Mikhailov, M. Yu

AU - Porrati, F.

AU - Huth, M.

AU - Chumak, A. V.

AU - Lang, W.

AU - Dobrovolskiy, O. V.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank Roland Sachser for support with the nanofabrication. B.B. and B.A. acknowledge financial support by the Vienna Doctoral School in Physics (VDSP). D.Y.V. acknowledges support by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), Grant No. 18-29-20100. M.Yu.M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H. Support through the Frankfurt Center of Electron Microscopy (FCEM) and by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology via COST Actions CA16218 (NANOCOHYBRI) and CA19108 (HiSCALE) is gratefully acknowledged. M. Yu. M. acknowledges partial support by the NAS of Ukraine through Grant No. 2/22-H, and the WPI Scholarship within the framework of the Pauli Ukraine Project. This research is funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Grant No. I 4865-N. For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a CC BY public copyright license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.

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N2 - Ultrafast vortex motion has recently become a subject of extensive investigations, triggered by the fundamental question regarding the ultimate speed limits for magnetic flux quanta and enhancements of single-photon detectors. In this regard, the current-biased quench of a dynamic flux-flow regime—flux-flow instability (FFI)—has turned into a widely used method for the extraction of information about the relaxation of quasiparticles (unpaired electrons) in a superconductor. However, the large relaxation times 휏휖 deduced from FFI for many superconductors are often inconsistent with the fast relaxation processes implied by their single-photon counting capability. Here, we investigate FFI in 15-nm-thick 182-휇⁢m-wide MoSi strips with rough and smooth edges produced by laser etching and milling by a focused ion beam. For the strip with smooth edges we deduce, from current-voltage (퐼-푉) curve measurements, a factor of 3 larger critical currents 퐼푐, a factor of 20 higher maximal vortex velocities of 20 km/s, and a factor of 20 shorter 휏휖. We argue that for the deduction of the intrinsic 휏휖 of the material from the 퐼-푉 curves, utmost care should be taken regarding the edge and sample quality and such a deduction is justified only if the field dependence of 퐼푐 points to the dominating edge pinning of vortices.

AB - Ultrafast vortex motion has recently become a subject of extensive investigations, triggered by the fundamental question regarding the ultimate speed limits for magnetic flux quanta and enhancements of single-photon detectors. In this regard, the current-biased quench of a dynamic flux-flow regime—flux-flow instability (FFI)—has turned into a widely used method for the extraction of information about the relaxation of quasiparticles (unpaired electrons) in a superconductor. However, the large relaxation times 휏휖 deduced from FFI for many superconductors are often inconsistent with the fast relaxation processes implied by their single-photon counting capability. Here, we investigate FFI in 15-nm-thick 182-휇⁢m-wide MoSi strips with rough and smooth edges produced by laser etching and milling by a focused ion beam. For the strip with smooth edges we deduce, from current-voltage (퐼-푉) curve measurements, a factor of 3 larger critical currents 퐼푐, a factor of 20 higher maximal vortex velocities of 20 km/s, and a factor of 20 shorter 휏휖. We argue that for the deduction of the intrinsic 휏휖 of the material from the 퐼-푉 curves, utmost care should be taken regarding the edge and sample quality and such a deduction is justified only if the field dependence of 퐼푐 points to the dominating edge pinning of vortices.

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KW - ELECTRONIC INSTABILITY

KW - VORTEX ENTRY

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Rising Speed Limits for Fluxons via Edge-Quality Improvement in Wide MoSi Thin Films

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

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FLUXPIN: Fluxon manipulation by nanoscale artificial pinning lattices in cuprate superconductors

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Rising Speed Limits for Fluxons via Edge-Quality Improvement in Wide MoSi Thin Films

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

FLUXPIN: Fluxon manipulation by nanoscale artificial pinning lattices in cuprate superconductors

Cite this