We have measured the maximum field for which vortices are completely expelled from a thin-film superconducting strip. Niobium strips of width $W$ were field cooled and imaged with a scanning Hall-probe microscope. Below a critical field $B_m\approx {\Phi }_0/W^2$ all flux was expelled; above this field vortices were observed with a density increasing approximately linearly with field. The small value of the critical field, which is orders of magnitude less than in the bulk, implies that superconducting devices should be designed with narrow wires to eliminate the generation of noise from vortex motion.

• Received 23 October 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.097003