Influence of surface defects on vortex penetration and expulsion in mesoscopic superconductors

Abstract

Solving the nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau equations self-consistently we investigated the influence of surface defects on the vortex penetration and expulsion in thin mesoscopic superconducting samples. The effect of the number, size, and position of surface defects on the vortex entry and exit fields and on the entrance and exit positions of the vortex are studied for very thin circular, square, and rectangular samples. For specific vortex configurations we found that due to the interplay between the vortex-vortex repulsion and the vortex-defect interaction, the vortex does not enter or leave the sample through the surface defect. ©2005 The American Physical Society.