Experimental detection of vortices in magic-angle graphene

Marta Perego (), Clara Galante Agero, Alexandra Mestre Torà, Elías Portolés, Artem O. Denisov, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Filippo Gaggioli, Vadim Geshkenbein, Gianni Blatter, Thomas Ihn and Klaus Ensslin
Additional contact information
Marta Perego: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Clara Galante Agero: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Alexandra Mestre Torà: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Elías Portolés: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Artem O. Denisov: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Takashi Taniguchi: National Institute for Materials Science, Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics
Kenji Watanabe: National Institute for Materials Science, Research Center for Electronic and Optical Materials
Filippo Gaggioli: ETH Zurich, Institute for Theoretical Physics
Vadim Geshkenbein: ETH Zurich, Institute for Theoretical Physics
Gianni Blatter: ETH Zurich, Institute for Theoretical Physics
Thomas Ihn: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics
Klaus Ensslin: ETH Zurich, Laboratory for Solid State Physics

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Superconducting magic-angle twisted-layer graphene (MATLG) is a promising candidate for superconducting electronics due to its electrical tunability. While the microscopic origins of superconductivity in MATLG have been intensively studied, many aspects of its phenomenology remain unexplored due to the challenges associated with studying two-dimensional (2D) materials. Here, we report the first direct experimental evidence of superconducting vortices in MATLG, a hallmark of type-II superconductors. Field-dependent critical current measurements in a gate-tuned Josephson junction reveal Fraunhofer-like patterns characteristic of ultrathin films with weak transverse screening. These patterns exhibit sudden shifts attributed to spontaneous vortex penetration into the leads. With the leads at the edge of the superconducting dome, we observe bistable V–I fluctuations linked to rapid vortex dynamics. Time-dependent measurements provide the vortex energy scale, the London penetration depth, and superfluid stiffness, consistent with recent kinetic inductance studies. These findings establish gate-defined Josephson junctions as versatile sensors of vortex dynamics in 2D superconductors.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65123-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-65123-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65123-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().