Influence of thermal fluctuations and artificial defects on vortex pinning and dynamics in high-temperature superconductors Final scientific report

One of the aims of this project was to develop two new and complementary experimental measurement techniques for study of vortex dynamics in high-temperature superconductors (HTSC): the sensitive vibrating reed and the microscopic arrays of Hall sensors. The purpose of this research was the study of the influence of pinning (due to intrinsic or incorporated pinning centers and geometrical or surface barriers) and thermal fluctuations on the electromagnetic properties of HTSC crystals and thin films. A substantial progress in these tasks was achieved. The vibrating reed system with capacitive and laser interferometry detection was developed in Bayreuth-Leipzig Universities and the microscopic Hall-sensor arrays have been developed and manufactured at the Weizmann Institute and successfully used for several studies of HTSC crystals. A technique for incorporation of submicron defect structures in thin films has been developed and tested. In addition significant progress in theoretical analysis of vortex dynamics has been achieved through the collaboration with Bar-Ilan University. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: F00B233 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEGerman-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), Oberschleissheim (Germany)DEGerman