Microwave emission from superconducting vortices in Mo/Si superlattices

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 4927 - 9
• Main Authors: Dobrovolskiy, O. V., Bevz, V. M., Mikhailov, M. Yu, Yuzephovich, O. I., Shklovskij, V. A., Vovk, R. V., Tsindlekht, M. I., Sachser, R., Huth, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22.11.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 142/126; 147/135; 147/143; 639/766/1130/1064; 639/766/119/1003; 639/766/119/995; Electromagnetic radiation; Emission spectra; Generators; Humanities and Social Sciences; Josephson effect; Magnetic fields; Microwave emission; multidisciplinary; Oscillators; Radiation; Radio frequency; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Superlattices; Vortices
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07256-0

Most of superconductors in a magnetic field are penetrated by a lattice of quantized flux vortices. In the presence of a transport current causing the vortices to cross sample edges, emission of electromagnetic waves is expected due to the continuity of tangential components of the fields at the surface. Yet, such a radiation has not been observed so far due to low radiated power levels and lacking coherence in the vortex motion. Here, we clearly evidence the emission of electromagnetic waves from vortices crossing the layers of a superconductor/insulator Mo/Si superlattice. The emission spectra consist of narrow harmonically related peaks which can be finely tuned in the GHz range by the dc bias current and, coarsely, by the in-plane magnetic field value. Our findings show that superconductor/insulator superlattices can act as dc-tunable microwave generators bridging the frequency gap between conventional radiofrequency oscillators and (sub-)terahertz generators relying upon the Josephson effect. Emission of electromagnetic waves is expected when superconducting vortices cross sample edges, but such a radiation has not been observed so far. Here, Dobrovolskiy et al. evidence the electromagnetic radiation from vortices crossing the layers of a Mo/Si superlattice, where the emission spectra can be tuned by dc bias current and coarsely by the in-plane magnetic field.