Field-free nucleation of antivortices and giant vortices in non-superconducting materials

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that giant vortices and antivortices can form in non-superconducting materials through proximity effects, without magnetic fields, enabling new ways to study topological defects in diverse environments.

Contribution

It reveals that non-superconducting materials can host vortex structures via proximity effects, expanding the understanding of topological defects beyond traditional superconductors.

Findings

Giant vortices can form without magnetic fields in non-superconducting materials.

Antivortices can also be stabilized in this setup.

Proximity effects enable electrically controllable topological defects.

Abstract

Giant vortices with higher phase-winding than $2\pi$ are usually energetically unfavorable, but geometric symmetry constraints on a superconductor in a magnetic field are known to stabilize such objects. Here, we show via microscopic calculations that giant vortices can appear in intrinsically non-superconducting materials, even without any applied magnetic field. The enabling mechanism is the proximity effect to a host superconductor where a current flows, and we also demonstrate that antivortices can appear in this setup. Our results open the possibility to study electrically controllable topological defects in unusual environments, which do not have to be exposed to magnetic fields or intrinsically superconducting, but instead display other types of order.