vortices

Using scanning tunneling microscopy, a technique capable of imaging surfaces at the atomic level, the researchers confirmed that the steps ran parallel to one another and directly observed vortices positioned along them.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Under certain conditions, these vortices moved more than 1,000 times more easily along the steps than across them.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Being able to control where these vortices travel could therefore help scientists improve superconducting devices.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

"Our study shows that atomic-scale steps can act as effective rails that guide superconducting vortices, and that this guiding effect can be tuned simply by changing the temperature or magnetic field," said Uchihashi.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

All of this can be explained very well in the atomic model of the world, but only with much greater difficulty using Cartesian vortices.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin