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We demonstrate complete control over dynamics of a single superconducting vortex in a nanostructure, which wecoin the Single Vortex Box. Our device allows us to trap the vortex in a field-cooled aluminum nanosquare andexpel it on demand with a nanosecond pulse of electrical current. Using the time-resolving nanothermometry wemeasure 4 ⋅ 10−19 joules as the amount of the dissipated heat in the elementary process of the single-vortex expul-sion. Our experiment enlightens the thermodynamics of the absorption process in the superconducting nanowiresingle-photon detectors, in which vortices are perceived to be essential for a formation of a detectable hotspot.The demonstrated opportunity to manipulate a single superconducting vortex reliably in a confined geometrycomprises a proof of concept of a nanoscale nonvolatile memory cell with subnanosecond write and read opera-tions, which offers compatibility with quantum processors based either on superconducting qubits or on rapidsingle-flux quantum circuits.
M. Foltyn, K. Norowski, A. Savin, M. Zgirski, Quantum thermodynamics with a singlesuperconducting vortex, Science Adv. 10, eado4032 (2024)