Effects of kinked linear defects on planar flux line arrays

TL;DR

This paper models vortices in superconductors as non-interacting fermions to analytically study how kinked linear defects influence vortex density and pinning, revealing sinusoidal density modulations due to defect direction changes.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical approach to understanding vortex behavior near kinked defects using a fermion analogy, providing new insights into pinning phenomena.

Findings

Sinusoidal modulation of vortex density near defect kinks

Analytical expressions for vortex density and current

Understanding of pinning effects in kinked defects

Abstract

In the hard core limit, interacting vortices in planar type II superconductors can be modeled as non-interacting one dimensional fermions propagating in imaginary time. We use this analogy to derive analytical expressions for the probability density and imaginary current of vortex lines interacting with an isolated bent line defect and to understand the pinning properties of such systems. When there is an abrupt change of the direction of the pinning defect, we find a sinusoidal modulation of the vortex density in directions both parallel and perpendicular to the defect.