W. Gillijns

Plasmons reveal the direction of magnetization in nickel nanostructures.

We have applied the surface-sensitive nonlinear optical technique of magnetization-induced second harmonic generation (MSHG) to plasmonic, magnetic nanostructures made of Ni. We show that surface plasmon contributions to the MSHG signal can reveal the direction of the magnetization. Both the plasmonic and the magnetic nonlinear optical responses can be tuned; our results indicate novel ways to combine nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, and nanomagnetics and suggest the possibility for large magneto-chiral effects in metamaterials.

Dipole-induced vortex ratchets in superconducting films with arrays of micromagnets

We investigate the transport properties of superconducting films with periodic arrays of in-plane magnetized micromagnets. Two different magnetic textures are studied: a square array of magnetic bars and a close-packed array of triangular microrings. As confirmed by magnetic force microscopy imaging, the magnetic state of both systems can be adjusted to produce arrays of almost pointlike magnetic dipoles. By carrying out transport measurements with ac drive, we observed experimentally a recently predicted ratchet effect induced by the interaction between superconducting vortices and the magnetic dipoles. Moreover, we find that these magnetic textures produce vortex-antivortex patterns, which have a crucial role in the transport properties of this hybrid system.

Linearly polarized second harmonic generation microscopy reveals chirality

In optics, chirality is typically associated with circularly polarized light. Here we present a novel way to detect the handedness of chiral materials with linearly polarized light. We performed Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) microscopy on G-shaped planar chiral nanostructures made of gold. The SHG response originates in distinctive hotspots, whose arrangement is dependent of the handedness. These results uncover new directions for studying chirality in artificial materials.

U-Shaped Switches for Optical Information Processing at the Nanoscale

4–6 ] In such devices, light waves would be used instead of electrons. The possibility arises from the fact that light waves can couple to collective excitations of electrons at the surfaces of metallic nanostructures, a prop-erty referred to as surface plasmon resonance. Because these optically induced resonances occur at the surfaces and interfaces of the nanostructures, they can readily be investigated with a surface- and interface-specifi c optical technique, such as second-harmonic generation (SHG). SHG is a nonlinear optical technique that, within the dipole approximation, is forbidden in materials with a center of symmetry. Consequently, SHG is highly sensitive to regions with broken symmetry, such as surfaces (or interfaces), and it has been successfully applied to the study of plasmonic nano-materials with different geometries.

Enhanced pinning in superconducting thin films with graded pinning landscapes

A graded distribution of antidots in superconducting a-Mo79Ge21 thin films has been investigated by magnetization and magneto-optical imaging measurements. The pinning landscape has maximum density at the sample border, decreasing linearly towards the center. Its overall performance is noticeably superior than that for a sample with uniformly distributed antidots: For high temperatures and low fields, the critical current is enhanced, whereas the region of thermomagnetic instabilities in the field-temperature diagram is significantly suppressed. These findings confirm the relevance of graded landscapes on the enhancement of pinning efficiency, as recently predicted by Misko and Nori.

Manipulation of the vortex motion in nanostructured ferromagnetic/superconductor hybrids

The authors investigate the rectified motion of vortices in superconducting films deposited on top of a close-packed array of open in-plane magnetized triangular micromagnets. The dc voltage induced by the vortex drift under an ac excitation is recorded for three different magnetic configurations of the triangles. When the magnetic elements are in the as-grown state a rectification signal which reverses sign when the field changes polarity is observed. In contrast to that, when the array of triangles is magnetized the observed rectification effect is independent of the field polarity and can be reverted by reorienting the magnetization of the micromagnets.

Origin of reversed vortex ratchet motion.

We experimentally demonstrate that the origin of multiply reversed rectified vortex motion in an asymmetric pinning landscape not only is a consequence of the vortex-vortex interactions but also essentially depends on the ratio between the characteristic interaction distance and the period of the asymmetric pinning potential. We study four samples with different periods d of the asymmetric potential. For large d the dc voltage V(dc) recorded under a ac excitation indicates that the average vortex drift is from bigger to smaller dots for all explored positive fields. As d is reduced, a series of sign reversals in the dc response are observed as a function of field. We show that the number of sign reversals increases as d decreases. These findings are in agreement with recent computer simulations and illustrate the relevance of the different characteristic lengths for the vortex rectification effects.

Enhanced pinning and proliferation of matching effects in a superconducting film with a Penrose array of magnetic dots

The vortex dynamics in superconducting films deposited on top of a fivefold Penrose array of magnetic dots is studied by means of transport measurements. The authors show that in the low pinning regime (demagnetized dots) a few periodic and aperiodic matching features coexist. In the strong pinning regime (magnetized dots) a richer structure of unforeseen periodic and aperiodic vortex patterns appear, giving rise to a clear enhancement of the critical current in a broader field range. Possible stable vortex configurations are determined by molecular dynamics simulations.

Tunable field-induced superconductivity

We investigate the transport properties of a thin superconducting Al layer covering a square array of magnetic dots with out-of-plane magnetization. A thorough characterization of the magnetic properties of the dots allowed us to fine-tune their magnetic state at will, hereby changing the influence of the dots on the superconductor in a continuous way. We show that even though the number of vortex-antivortex pairs discretely increases with increasing the magnetization of the dots, no corresponding discontinuity is observed in the resistance of the sample. The evolution of the superconducting phase boundary as the magnetic state of the dots is swept permits one to devise a fully controllable and erasable field-induced superconductor.

Magnetic confinement of the superconducting condensate in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrid composites

The influence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field on the magnetoresistance of thin Al films, used in different superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids, has been investigated. Two contrasting magnetic textures with out-of-plane magnetization are explored: namely, (i) a plain film in a multidomain state and (ii) an array of microsized dots. The stray fields of the ferromagnetic structures confine the superconducting condensate and, accordingly, modify the condition for the nucleation of superconductivity. By switching between different magnetic states of the ferromagnet, this confinement can be tuned at will, thereby reversibly changing the dependence of the critical temperature