London equation studies of thin-film superconductors with a triangular antidot lattice

We report on a study of vortex pinning in nanoscale antidot defect arrays in the context of the London theory. Using a wire network model, we discretize the array with a fine mesh, thereby providing a detailed treatment of pinning phenomena. The use of a fine grid has enabled us to examine both circular and elongated defects, patterned in the form of a rhombus. The latter display pinning characteristics superior to circular defects constructed with the similar area. We calculate pinning potentials for defects containing zero and single quanta, and we obtain a pinning phase diagram for the second matching field H=2Φ_o.