862 research outputs found
Vortex Collisions: Crossing or Recombination?
We investigate the collision of two vortex lines moving with viscous dynamics
and driven towards each other by an applied current. Using London theory in the
approach phase we observe a non-trivial vortex conformation producing
anti-parallel segments; their attractive interaction triggers a violent
collision. The collision region is analyzed using the time-dependent
Ginzburg-Landau equation. While we find vortices will always recombine through
exchange of segments, a crossing channel appears naturally through a double
collision process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Evaporation of the pancake-vortex lattice in weakly-coupled layered superconductors
We calculate the melting line of the pancake-vortex system in a layered
superconductor, interpolating between two-dimensional (2D) melting at high
fields and the zero-field limit of single-stack evaporation. Long-range
interactions between pancake vortices in different layers permit a mean-field
approach, the ``substrate model'', where each 2D crystal fluctuates in a
substrate potential due to the vortices in other layers. We find the thermal
stability limit of the 3D solid, and compare the free energy to a 2D liquid to
determine the first-order melting transition and its jump in entropy.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, two postscript figures incorporated using eps
Topological Defects in the Abrikosov Lattice of Vortices in Type-II Superconductors
The free energy costs for various defects within an Abrikosov lattice of
vortices are calculated using the lowest Landau level approximation (LLL).
Defect solutions with boundary conditions for lines to meet at a point
(crossing defect) and for lines to twist around each other (braid defect) are
sought for 2, 3, 6, and 12 lines. Many results have been unexpected, including
the nonexistence of a stable two- or three-line braid. This, and the high
energy cost found for a six-line braid lead us to propose that the equilibrium
vortex state is not entangled below the irreversibility line of the high-
superconductors or in a large part of the vortex-liquid phase above this line.
Also, the solution for an infinite straight screw dislocation is found, and
used to give a limiting form for the free energy cost of very large braids.
This depends on the area enclosed by the braid as well as its perimeter length.Comment: 30 pages, 17 Encapsulated PostScript figures, uses Revtex (with epsf
Disorder Induced Transitions in Layered Coulomb Gases and Superconductors
A 3D layered system of charges with logarithmic interaction parallel to the
layers and random dipoles is studied via a novel variational method and an
energy rationale which reproduce the known phase diagram for a single layer.
Increasing interlayer coupling leads to successive transitions in which charge
rods correlated in N>1 neighboring layers are nucleated by weaker disorder. For
layered superconductors in the limit of only magnetic interlayer coupling, the
method predicts and locates a disorder-induced defect-unbinding transition in
the flux lattice. While N=1 charges dominate there, N>1 disorder induced defect
rods are predicted for multi-layer superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, RevTe
Absence of a Finite-Temperature Melting Transition in the Classical Two-Dimensional One-Component Plasma
Vortices in thin-film superconductors are often modelled as a system of
particles interacting via a repulsive logarithmic potential. Arguments are
presented to show that the hypothetical (Abrikosov) crystalline state for such
particles is unstable at any finite temperature against proliferation of
screened disclinations. The correlation length of crystalline order is
predicted to grow as as the temperature is reduced to zero, in
excellent agreement with our simulations of this two-dimensional system.Comment: 3 figure
Abrupt Change of Josephson Plasma Frequency at the Phase Boundary of the Bragg Glass in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta}
We report the first detailed and quantitative study of the Josephson coupling
energy in the vortex liquid, Bragg glass and vortex glass phases of
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta} by the Josephson plasma resonance. The measurements
revealed distinct features in the T- and H-dependencies of the plasma frequency
for each of these three vortex phases. When going across either
the Bragg-to-vortex glass or the Bragg-to-liquid transition line,
shows a dramatic change. We provide a quantitative discussion on the properties
of these phase transitions, including the first order nature of the
Bragg-to-vortex glass transition.Comment: 5pages, 4figure
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