Branching of the vortex nucleation period in superconductor Nb microtubes due to inhomogeneous transport current

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how inhomogeneous transport currents in Nb microtubes can controllably branch vortex nucleation periods, potentially reducing noise and energy dissipation in superconductor devices.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control vortex nucleation in Nb microtubes using inhomogeneous currents, analyzed via the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation.

Findings

Vortex nucleation period can be controllably branched by inhomogeneous currents.

The geometry of electrodes significantly influences vortex behavior.

Inhomogeneous currents can reduce vortex occurrence, lowering noise and energy dissipation.

Abstract

An inhomogeneous transport current, which is introduced through multiple electrodes in an open Nb microtube, is shown to lead to a controllable branching of the vortex nucleation period. The detailed mechanism of this branching is analyzed using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation. The relative change of the vortex nucleation period strongly depends on the geometry of multiple electrodes. The average number of vortices occurring in the tube in a nanosecond can be effectively reduced owing to the inhomogeneous transport current, what is important for noise and energy dissipation reduction in superconductor applications, e.g., for an extension of the operation regime of superconductor-based sensors to lower frequencies.