Magneto-optic observation of anomalous Meissner current flow in superconducting thin films with slits

Slits patterned into a YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin film were observed to obstruct Meissner sheet currents leading to an imbalance in the local Meissner screening properties. The new phenomenon was studied with magneto-optic imaging where twin lobes of opposite flux polarity were seen to form near the slits and inside the Meissner region. The lobe closest to the sample edge is always polarized opposite to the applied field. At weak fields, the anomalous flux generation is reversible. At higher fields, but still sufficiently small to keep the vortex penetration front away from the slits, the anomalous current starts nucleating flux lines which become trapped when the field is removed.