*Vortex Dynamics in Superconductors

Serena M. Eley

serenaeley@mines.edu

Superconductors are revered for their ability to carry high dissipation-free currents below a material- dependent critical current density Jc. In these materials, vortex motion induces unfavorable dissipation that ultimately limits Jc and creep causes the persistent current to decay over time. This has motivated decades of research developing methods of tailoring the disorder landscape in superconductors to increase the strength of vortex pinning, therefore boosting Jc. Yet efficacious materials engineering still alludes us – we cannot reliably predict the electromagnetic properties of real (disordered) superconducting materials. Designing superconductors for applications remains a largely inefficient process of trial and error. This is ultimately because much is still unknown about vortex dynamics: the field is challenged by the extremely complex interplay between vortex elasticity, vortex-vortex interactions, and material disorder. Furthermore, quantum creep has received little attention. As it sets the lowest achievable creep rate and contributes in some unknown way to thermal creep, this is a serious gap in vortex physics. The student will assist in measurements of the creep rate in superconductors at T < 1 K.

Grand Challenge: Make solar energy economical

https://www.nature.com/articles/nmat4840 https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/79/11/116501/meta

Graduate student Myself