TILTED AND CURVED VORTICES IN ANISOTROPIC SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS

The shapes of the Abrikosov vortices and of the magnetic-field lines in c-oriented superconducting slabs or films in a tilted magnetic field B(a) are calculated from anisotropic London theory. In thick slabs for not too small B(a) >> B(c1) the vortices and field lines have the same tilt as B(a) apart from small deviations near the surfaces. However, in thin films the vortex lines are nearly straight and perpendicular to the surface even when the field lines are strongly tilted or curved by a high current density. Each field line can thus cross many vortex lines.