Magnetic Pinning of Vortices in a Superconducting Film: The (anti)vortex-magnetic dipole interaction energy in the London approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic dipoles interact with vortices in superconducting films, revealing conditions for vortex-antivortex coexistence and providing analytical insights into the interaction energy.

Contribution

It presents analytical results on vortex-magnetic dipole interactions in superconducting films within the London approximation, highlighting conditions for vortex-antivortex coexistence.

Findings

Short-range magnetic interactions enable vortex-antivortex coexistence

Analytical expressions for interaction energy are derived

Various vortex configurations are analyzed

Abstract

The interaction between a superconducting vortex or antivortex in a superconducting film and a magnetic dipole with in- or out-of-plane magnetization is investigated within the London approximation. The dependence of the interaction energy on the dipole-vortex distance and the film thickness is studied and analytical results are obtained in limiting cases. We show how the short range interaction with the magnetic dipole makes the co-existence of vortices and antivortices possible. Different configurations with vortices and antivortices are investigated.