Vortex-Line Pinning by Thickness Modulation of Superconducting Films

We present experimental evidence for the interaction of vortex lines with a controlled pinning configuration induced by periodic thickness modulation of superconducting films. The critical current density as a function of a transverse magnetic field shows characteristic peaks at well-defined field values. These features give evidence for matching of the two-dimensional vortex-line lattice with the one-dimensional periodic pinning structure. A model is proposed which accounts for the observed temperature dependence of the matching effects.

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