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Letter

Nature Physics 3, 239–242 (1 April 2007) | doi:10.1038/nphys540

Two-dimensional vortices in superconductors

Bo Chen , W. P. Halperin , Prasenjit Guptasarma , D. G. Hinks , V. F. Mitrovi|[cacute]| , A. P. Reyes & P. L. Kuhns

Superconductors have two key characteristics: they expel magnetic field and they conduct electrical current with zero resistance. However, both properties are compromised in high magnetic fields, which can penetrate the material and create a mixed state of quantized vortices.