Abrikosov vortex (rus. вихрь Абрикосова) — vortex of superconducting current (supercurrent) that circulates around a normal (nonsuperconducting) core (vortex filament) and induces a magnetic field with magnetic flux equivalent to the magnetic flux quantum.

Description

In 1957 A. A. Abrikosov theoretically proved that a magnetic field penetrates in a type II superconductor in the form of quantised vortex filaments (such system is energetically “profitable”). Each filament (vortex) has a normal (non-superconducting) core with a radius equal to the superconductor coherence length ξ. A persistent vortex current of Cooper pairs (supercurrent) flows around this normal cylinder in the region with a radius equal to the magnetic field penetration depth λ; such a current is oriented so that the magnetic field that it produces is directed along the normal core, i.e. it coincides with the direction of the external magnetic field. In this case each vortex carries one flux quantum Φ0 = h/(2e).

Author

  • Eugene S. Soldatov

Source

  1. The lattice of Abrikosov vortexes / / Physical encyclopedia V. 1 Ed. by A.M. Prokhorov (in Russian). — Moscow: Sovetskaja ehnciklopedija, 1988. P. 389.