4 research outputs found
Current-induced highly dissipative domains in high Tc thin films
We have investigated the resistive response of high Tc thin films submitted
to a high density of current. For this purpose, current pulses were applied
into bridges made of Nd(1.15)Ba(1.85)Cu3O7 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. By recording the
time dependent voltage, we observe that at a certain critical current j*, a
highly dissipative domain develops somewhere along the bridge. The successive
formation of these domains produces stepped I-V characteristics. We present
evidences that these domains are not regions with a temperature above Tc, as
for hot spots. In fact this phenomenon appears to be analog to the nucleation
of phase-slip centers observed in conventional superconductors near Tc, but
here in contrast they appear in a wide temperature range. Under some
conditions, these domains will propagate and destroy the superconductivity
within the whole sample. We have measured the temperature dependence of j* and
found a similar behavior in the two investigated compounds. This temperature
dependence is just the one expected for the depairing current, but the
amplitude is about 100 times smaller.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Normal-superconducting transition induced by high current densities in YBa2Cu3O7-d melt-textured samples and thin films: Similarities and differences
Current-voltage characteristics of top seeded melt-textured YBa2Cu3O7-d are
presented. The samples were cut out of centimetric monoliths. Films
characteristics were also measured on microbridges patterned on thin films
grown by dc sputtering. For both types of samples, a quasi-discontinuity or
quenching was observed for a current density J* several times the critical
current density Jc. Though films and bulks much differ in their magnitude of
both Jc and J*, a proposal is made as to a common intrinsic origin of the
quenching phenomenon. The unique temperature dependence observed for the ratio
J*/Jc, as well as the explanation of the pre-quenching regime in terms of a
single dissipation model lend support to our proposal.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review