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. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.