Fig. 2: The magnitude of the nanobeam response at each excitation frequency against time taken from the start of the first event in heat-map format. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: The magnitude of the nanobeam response at each excitation frequency against time taken from the start of the first event in heat-map format.

From: Nanoscale real-time detection of quantum vortices at millikelvin temperatures

Fig. 2

Before point α1 the beam is in the default vortex-free state. Between α1 and β1 a vortex interacting with the beam gradually raises the beam frequency by 3 kHz, finally becoming captured along the entire length of the beam at β1. From β1 to γ1 the resonance is stable for 20 ms. The captured vortex interacts with a nearby vortex and at point γ1/δ1 the system suddenly resets via reconnection of the trapped and attracted vortices and the beam resonance jumps back to the vortex-free state. After 14.35 s a second event at α2 occurs with similar features. The cartoons along the top of the figure sketch the broad processes involved, although the precise details of the capture and release mechanisms are not completely understood.

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