Nanoscale control over single vortex motion in an unconventional superconductor

Song, Sang Yong [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)] (ORCID:0000000258109944); Hua, Chengyun [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000335878342); Halász, Gábor B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)]; Ko, Wonhee [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000261551485); Yan, Jiaqiang [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000166254706); Lawrie, Benjamin J. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:000000031431066X); Maksymovych, Petro [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Clemson Univ., SC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308228459)

doi:10.1039/d5nr04204f

DOE OSTI · 3362869

Nanoscale control over single vortex motion in an unconventional superconductor

Song, Sang Yong [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)] (ORCID:0000000258109944)·Hua, Chengyun [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000335878342)·Halász, Gábor B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)]·Ko, Wonhee [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000261551485)·Yan, Jiaqiang [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000166254706)·Lawrie, Benjamin J. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:000000031431066X)·Maksymovych, Petro [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Clemson Univ., SC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308228459)

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Abstract

Precise control of superconducting vortices is crucial for studying vortex dynamics and vortex braiding. We propose a new method to pull vortex lines in the layered superconductor FeSe using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip. Weak contact of the STM tip with the FeSe surface locally reduces the superconducting gap, thereby creating a tunable vortex pinning potential on the nanometer scale. This enables controlled vortex line deformation even in dense vortex lattices. Analytical modeling reveals that the deformation strength scales logarithmically with conductance and depends on tip geometry. Our findings point to local strain-induced gap suppression as the mechanism for STM-mediated vortex manipulation, providing a fundamental insight relevant to vortex behavior in the context of quantum information studies.

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Song, Sang Yong [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)] (ORCID:0000000258109944), Hua, Chengyun [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000335878342), Halász, Gábor B. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)], Ko, Wonhee [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000261551485), Yan, Jiaqiang [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000166254706), Lawrie, Benjamin J. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:000000031431066X), Maksymovych, Petro [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Clemson Univ., SC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000308228459). 2026-02-23. Nanoscale control over single vortex motion in an unconventional superconductor. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5nr04204f

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