Simulation of the phase diagram of magnetic vortices in two-dimensional superconductors: evidence for vortex chain formation

We study the superconducting vortex states induced by the interplay of long-range Pearl repulsion and short-range intervortex attraction using Langevin dynamics simulations. We show that at low temperatures the vortices form an ordered Abrikosov lattice both in low and high fields. The vortices show distinctive modulated structures at intermediate fields depending on the effective intervortex attraction: ordered vortex chain and kagome-like vortex structures for weak attraction; bubble, stripe and antibubble lattices for strong attraction. Moreover, in the regime of the chain state, the vortices display structural transitions from chain to labyrinthine (or disordered chain) and/or to disordered states depending on the strength of the disorder.