Vortex Dynamics in Superconducting MoN Strip with a Side Cut

Transport characteristics of superconducting MoN strips with a single side cut near one of the superconductor edges in zero and weak magnetic fields are studied experimentally and theoretically. The presence of the cut makes it possible to observe regimes with one and several simultaneously moving Abrikosov vortices, the number of which is controlled by the value of the applied current. A change in the number of vortices is accompanied with the emergence of a “kink” on the current–voltage characteristic, which can be clearly distinguished in the dependence of the differential resistance on the current. This makes it possible to find average velocity v̅ of vortices (including a single vortex) and the current/voltage ranges with the known number of moving vortices. The vortex velocity determined in this way for our superconducting strips turns out to be weakly depending on the current and is close to maximal value v̅_max ≈ 3 km/s, for which a superconductor transition to the normal state occurs. The maximal velocity value is comparable with the known values for superconductors of types Nb, NbN as well as, and YBCO, but is several times smaller than for superconductors of types MoSi, NbC, and Pb. The fact that difference in the maximal velocities of vortices is associated with different times of variation of the superconducting order parameter magnitude in different superconducting materials is considered.