6 research outputs found
Pinning of spiral fluxons by giant screw dislocations in YBa_2Cu_3O_7 single crystals: Josephson analog of the fishtail effect
By using a highly sensitive homemade AC magnetic susceptibility technique,
the magnetic flux penetration has been measured in YBa_2Cu_3O_7 single crystals
with giant screw dislocations (having the structure of the Archimedean spirals)
exhibiting a=3 spiral turnings, the pitch b=18.7 microns and the step height
c=1.2nm (the last parameter is responsible for creation of extended weak-link
structure around the giant defects). The magnetic field applied parallel to the
surface enters winding around the weak-link regions of the screw in the form of
the so-called spiral Josephson fluxons characterized by the temperature
dependent pitch b_f(T). For a given temperature, a stabilization of the fluxon
structure occurs when b_f(T) matches b (meaning an optimal pinning by the screw
dislocations) and manifests itself as a pronounced low-field peak in the
dependence of the susceptibility on magnetic field (applied normally to the
surface) in the form resembling the high-field (Abrikosov) fishtail effect.Comment: see also http://www.jetpletters.ac.ru/ps/1886/article_28701.shtm