Enhanced pinning of superconducting vortices by magnetic vortices

Periodic arrays of magnetic structures are well known to give rise to commensurate pinning of superconducting vortices in adjacent superconducting films. In this work we compare the pinning effects due to magnetic dots with either single-domain or magnetic-vortex magnetization configuration. We observe a clear correlation between the magnetoresistance in the superconductor and the magnetization configuration of the magnetic dots indicating that the pinning of superconducting vortices is strongly enhanced for the magnetic vortex state. The origin of this enhanced pinning is due to the locally larger stray magnetic fields produced by the magnetic vortex cores.