Vortex structure and intervortex interaction in superconducting structures with intrinsic diode effect

TL;DR

This paper explores how the intrinsic superconducting diode effect influences vortex structures and interactions in non-centrosymmetric superconductor/ferromagnet hybrids, combining analytical Ginzburg-Landau theory with numerical simulations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analytical and numerical analysis of vortex behavior affected by the diode effect, revealing new vortex dynamics and design principles for non-reciprocal superconducting devices.

Findings

Vortex cores are shifted by the exchange field.

A lateral torque can rotate vortex ensembles.

Breakdown of vortex-antivortex symmetry in finite samples.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the intrinsic superconducting diode effect can affect the structure, interactions and dynamics of Abrikosov vortices in non-centrosymmetric superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures. The Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory accounting for the spin-orbit and exchange-field effects predicts a chiral distortion of the superfluid velocity, non-central interaction forces and resulting torque in a vortex-antivortex pair, and anisotropy of the Bean-Livingston barrier. These closed-form results are fully confirmed by time-dependent GL numerical simulations carried out with a fourth-order least-squares finite-difference solver, which captures equilibrium single vortex configuration in realistic mesoscopic geometries. The analysis shows that the cubic gradient term shifts vortex cores by an amount proportional to the in-plane exchange field and simultaneously generates a lateral torque that can rotate entire vortex ensembles, showing how spin-orbit coupling and the exchange field enable breakdown of the vortex-antivortex symmetry in a finite-size sample. By combining transparent analytics with quantitative numerics, the work provides the hallmarks of vortex physics in superconducting structures with an intrinsic diode effect and supplies concrete guidelines for designing non-reciprocal superconducting circuits, fluxonic logic elements, and kinetic-inductance devices.