11 research outputs found
Where does the transport current flow in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 crystals?
A new measurement technique for investigation of vortex dynamics is
introduced. The distribution of the transport current across a crystal is
derived by a sensitive measurement of the self-induced magnetic field of the
transport current. We are able to clearly mark where the flow of the transport
current is characterized by bulk pinning, surface barrier, or a uniform current
distribution. One of the novel results is that in BSCCO crystals most of the
vortex liquid phase is affected by surface barriers resulting in a thermally
activated apparent resistivity. As a result the standard transport measurements
in BSCCO do not probe the dynamics of vortices in the bulk, but rather measure
surface barrier properties.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Natur