Vortex ratchet effects in superconducting curved bridge

Abstract: We study the vortex ratchet effects in superconducting asymmetric curved bridges. By transport measurements, we find that the rectified dc voltages are significantly enhanced, and we obtain clearly asymmetric voltage waveforms versus time in one period. The rectification effect can be achieved in a very wide range of temperatures, currents and magnetic fields. Based on the simulations of time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations, we demonstrate that the giant ratchet effects are mainly caused by the collective behavior of vortices in this asymmetric structure, which is quite different to the matching effects in conventional vortex ratchet systems.