Switching current modulations induced by vortices rearrangement in mesoscopic superconducting loops

Abstract

Periodic modulations in the switching current of niobium mesoscopic thin loops have been observed as a function of a perpendicular magnetic field. These modulations reflect the formation of specific vortices configurations in the arms and in the contacts of the loops. The voltage measured just before the current-driven transition to the normal state takes either zero or nonzero values depending on whether the vortices are efficiently pinned or move under the action of the applied current. This switching voltage varies sharply in the vicinity of the regularly spaced matching fields at which the switching current is minimum. This reflects the rearrangement of the vortices pattern from an unstable configuration into a more stable one. In addition, multimodal switching current distributions obtained at a constant field highlight that the few vortices involved in the field-cooling process freeze into a limited number of configurations. Finally, the spacing between the matching fields allows us to extract the critical field for complete vortex expulsion of the samples. Electrical transport measurements appear to be an efficient tool to determine the superheating field of submicrometer-wide structures, which is not obvious when measured by scanning probe microscopy.