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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact
Published on: February 1, 2017
Local Observation of Field Polarity Dependent Flux Pinning by Magnetic Dipoles
1Laboratorium voor Vaste-Stoffysica en Magnetisme, K. U. Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
A scanning Hall probe microscope is used to study flux pinning in a thin superconducting Pb film covering a square array of single-domain Co dots with in-plane magnetization. We show that single flux quanta of opposite sign thread the superconducting film below T(c) at the opposite poles of these dipoles. Depending on the polarity of the applied field, flux lines are attracted to a specific pole of the dipoles, due to the direct interaction with the vortexlike structures induced by the local stray field.
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