The Role of Vortices in the Mutual Coupling of Superconducting and Normal-Metal Films

Abstract

I propose a possible explanation to a recently observed ``cross-talk'' effect in metal-insulator-metal trilayers, indicating a sharp peak near a superconducting transition in one of the metal films. Coulomb interactions are excluded as a dominant coupling mechanism, and an alternative is suggested, based on the local fluctuating electric field induced by mobile vortices in the superconducting layer. This scenario is compatible with the magnitude of the peak signal and its shape; most importantly, it addresses the {\it non-reciprocity} of the effect in exchanging the roles of the films.