Vortex avalanches at one thousandth the superconducting transition temperature
Abstract
We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of vortex motion at millikelvin temperatures in untwinned single crystals of YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ). Above threshold fields of many tesla, flux jumps appear in the magnetic hysteresis B(H). These jumps correspond to a change of 750 vortices, on average, under our micrometer-sized Bi Hall probes. Not only are the threshold fields large, but they, and the characteristics of the flux jumps themselves, are essentially independent of magnet ramp rate or sample thickness, militating against a thermally triggered instability. Moreover, the threshold differs significantly on the ascending and descending branches of the hysteresis loop. We argue for a dynamical origin for these vortex avalanches and invoke a sandpile analogy to guide our detailed explorations of the H-T plane.
Additional Information
© 1996 The American Physical Society. Received 28 August 1995; revised manuscript received 31 October 1995. We are grateful to K. M. Beauchamp and S. N. Coppersmith for enlightening discussions. The work at the University of Chicago and at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR91-20000) through the Science and Technology Center for Superconductivity. R.J.Z. acknowledges support from the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-9400379. G.W.C. acknowledges support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences–Materials Science, under Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38.Attached Files
Published - PhysRevB.53.11849.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 46990
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140707-163033844
- NSF
- DMR91-20000
- NSF
- DMR-9400379
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- Created
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2014-07-09Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field