Correlation of Vortex Pinning with Topography in a Thin Film YBCO Sample

ORAL

Abstract

Understanding the local effects that lead to vortex pinning is an important challenge for the development of high temperature superconductor technologies. We have developed a magnetic force microscope (MFM) that can image an individual vortex and place a bound on its pinning strength. By moving the magnetized cantilever tip closer to the surface, we can enter a regime where atomic forces dominate over the magnetic signal, allowing for the correlation of the pinned vortex locations with a map of the topographic features. We will describe the implementation of this technique on a superconducting YBCO film.

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Authors

  • N.C. Koshnick

    • Stanford University

  • O.M. Auslaender

    • Stanford University

  • J.E. Hoffman

    • Harvard University

  • E. Straver

    • Stanford University

  • K.A. Moler

    • Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
    • Department of Applied Physics and Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University
    • Stanford University
    • Department of Applied Physics and Gebelle Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University

  • R.A. Hughes

    • McMaster University

  • J.S. Preston

    • McMaster University