268 research outputs found
Dynamic melting of confined vortex matter
We study {\em dynamic} melting of confined vortex matter moving in
disordered, mesoscopic channels by mode-locking experiments. The dynamic
melting transition, characterized by a collapse of the mode-locking effect,
strongly depends on the frequency, i.e. on the average velocity of the
vortices. The associated dynamic ordering velocity diverges upon approaching
the equilibrium melting line as . The
data provide the first direct evidence for velocity dependent melting and show
that the phenomenon also takes place in a system under disordered confinement.
\pacs{74.25.Qt,83.50.Ha,64.70.Dv,64.60.Ht}Comment: Some small changes have been made. 4 pages, 4 figures included.
Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Depinning and dynamics of vortices confined in mesoscopic flow channels
We study the behavior of vortex matter in artificial flow channels confined
by pinned vortices in the channel edges (CE's). The critical current is
governed by the interaction with static vortices in the CE's. We study
structural changes associated with (in)commensurability between the channel
width and the natural row spacing , and their effect on . The
behavior depends crucially on the presence of disorder in the CE arrays. For
ordered CE's, maxima in occur at matching ( integer), while
for defects along the CE's cause a vanishing . For weak CE
disorder, the sharp peaks in at become smeared via nucleation
and pinning of defects. The corresponding quasi-1D row configurations can
be described by a (disordered)sine-Gordon model. For larger disorder and
, levels at of the ideal lattice strength
. Around 'half filling' (), disorder causes new
features, namely {\it misaligned} defects and coexistence of and
rows in the channel. This causes a {\it maximum} in around mismatch,
while smoothly decreases towards matching due to annealing of the
misaligned regions. We study the evolution of static and dynamic structures on
changing , the relation between modulations of and transverse
fluctuations and dynamic ordering of the arrays. The numerical results at
strong disorder show good qualitative agreement with recent mode-locking
experiments.Comment: 29 pages, 32 figure
Evidence for a dynamic phase transition in [Co/Pt]_3 magnetic multilayers
A dynamic phase transition (DPT) with respect to the period P of an applied
alternating magnetic field has been observed previously in numerical
simulations of magnetic systems. However, experimental evidence for this DPT
has thus far been limited to qualitative observations of hysteresis loop
collapse in studies of hysteresis loop area scaling. Here, we present
significantly stronger evidence for the experimental observation of this DPT,
in a [Co(4 A)/Pt(7 A)]_3-multilayer system with strong perpendicular
anisotropy. We applied an out-of-plane, time-varying (sawtooth) field to the
[Co/Pt]_3 multilayer, in the presence of a small additional constant field,
H_b. We then measured the resulting out-of-plane magnetization time series to
produce nonequilibrium phase diagrams (NEPDs) of the cycle-averaged
magnetization, Q, and its variance, Var(Q), as functions of P and H_b. The
experimental NEPDs are found to strongly resemble those calculated from
simulations of a kinetic Ising model under analagous conditions. The similarity
of the experimental and simulated NEPDs, in particular the presence of a
localized peak in the variance Var(Q) in the experimental results, constitutes
strong evidence for the presence of this DPT in our magnetic multilayer
samples. Technical challenges related to the hysteretic nature and response
time of the electromagnet used to generate the time-varying applied field
precluded us from extracting meaningful critical scaling exponents from the
current data. However, based on our results, we propose refinements to the
experimental procedure which could potentially enable the determination of
critical exponents in the future.Comment: substantial revision; 26 pages, 9 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Vortex dynamics in superconducting channels with periodic constrictions
Vortices confined to superconducting easy flow channels with periodic
constrictions exhibit reversible oscillations in the critical current at which
vortices begin moving as the external magnetic field is varied. This
commensurability scales with the channel shape and arrangement, although
screening effects play an important role. For large magnetic fields, some of
the vortices become pinned outside of the channels, leading to magnetic
hysteresis in the critical current. Some channel configurations also exhibit a
dynamical hysteresis in the flux-flow regime near the matching fields
Depinning of a vortex chain in a disordered flow channel
We study depinning of vortex chains in channels formed by static, disordered
vortex arrays. Depinning is governed either by the barrier for defect
nucleation or for defect motion, depending on whether the chain periodicity is
commensurate or incommensurate with the surrounding arrays. We analyze the
reduction of the gap between these barriers as function of disorder. At large
disorder, commensurability becomes irrelevant and the pinning force is reduced
to a small fraction of the ideal shear strength of ordered channels.
Implications for experiments on channel devices are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter
Mode locking of vortex matter driven through mesoscopic channels
We investigated the driven dynamics of vortices confined to mesoscopic flow
channels by means of a dc-rf interference technique. The observed mode-locking
steps in the -curves provide detailed information on how the number of rows
and lattice structure in the channel change with magnetic field. Minima in flow
stress occur when an integer number of rows is moving coherently, while maxima
appear when incoherent motion of mixed and row configurations is
predominant. Simulations show that the enhanced pinning at mismatch originates
from quasi-static fault zones with misoriented edge dislocations induced by
disorder in the channel edges.Comment: some minor changes were made, 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Dynamic ordering of driven vortex matter in the peak effect regime of amorphous MoGe films and 2H-NbSe2 crystals
Dynamic ordering of driven vortex matter has been investigated in the peak
effect regime of both amorphous MoGe films and 2H-NbSe2 crystals by mode
locking (ML) and dc transport measurements. ML features allow us to trace how
the shear rigidity of driven vortices evolves with the average velocity.
Determining the onset of ML resonance in different magnetic fields and/or
temperatures, we find that the dynamic ordering frequency (velocity) exhibits a
striking divergence in the higher part of the peak effect regime.
Interestingly, this phenomenon is accompanied by a pronounced peak of dynamic
critical current. Mapping out field-temperature phase diagrams, we find that
divergent points follow well the thermodynamic melting curve of the ideal
vortex lattice over wide field and/or temperature ranges. These findings
provide a link between the dynamic and static melting phenomena which can be
distinguished from the disorder induced peak effect.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
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