Creating Artificial Ice States Using Vortices in Nanostructured Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of vortex ice states in nanostructured superconductors using numerical simulations, revealing how external currents and disorder influence ice rule adherence and defect formation.

Contribution

It introduces a method to realize vortex ice states in superconductors and analyzes the effects of disorder and defects, advancing artificial ice system research.

Findings

Vortex ice states can be achieved via external current protocols.

Disorder leads to defects along grain boundaries and within the lattice.

Vortex systems offer advantages over other artificial ice implementations.

Abstract

We demonstrate that it is possible to realize vortex ice states that are analogous to square and kagome ice. With numerical simulations, we show that the system can be brought into a state that obeys either global or local ice rules by applying an external current according to an annealing protocol. We explore the breakdown of the ice rules due to disorder in the nanostructure array and show that in square ice, topological defects appear along grain boundaries, while in kagome ice, individual defects appear. We argue that the vortex system offers significant advantages over other artificial ice systems.