As shown theoretically, geometry determines the dynamics of vortices in the presence of transport currents in open superconductor micro- and nanotubes subject to a magnetic field orthogonal to the axis. In low magnetic fields, vortices nucleate periodically at one edge of the tube, subsequently move along the tube under the action of the Lorentz force and denucleate at the opposite edge of the tube. In high magnetic fields, vortices pass along rows closest to the slit. Intervortex correlations lead to an attraction between vortices moving at opposite sides of a tube. Open superconductor nanotubes provide a tunable generator of superconducting vortices for fluxon-based quantum computing.
© 2012 American Chemical Society