A proposal to detect vortices above the superconducting transition temperature

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experiment to detect the presence of vortices above the superconducting transition temperature in cuprate superconductors, which could shed light on the pseudogap phase and vortex behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a simple experimental method using magnetic dots to stabilize and detect vortices above Tc in high-temperature superconductors.

Findings

Magnetic field profiles can indicate vortex presence

Vortices may persist above Tc in the pseudogap phase

Experimental parameters for vortex detection are discussed

Abstract

We propose a simple experiment to determine whether vortices persist above the superconducting transition temperature Tc in the pseudogap phase of high temperature cuprate superconductors. This involves using a magnetic dot to stabilize a vortex in a thin cuprate film beneath the dot. We calculate the magnetic field profile as a function of distance from the dot if a vortex is present, and discuss possible measurements that could be done to detect this. Finally, we comment on the temperature range where a stable vortex should be observable.