275 research outputs found
Columnar defects acting as passive internal field detectors
We have studied the angular dependence of the irreversible magnetization of
several YBaCuO and 2H-NbSe single crystals with columnar
defects tilted off the c-axis. At high magnetic fields, the irreversible
magnetization exhibits a well known maximum when the applied
field is parallel to the tracks. As the field is decreased below , the peak shifts away from the tracks' direction toward either the
c-axis or the ab-planes. We demonstrate that this shift results from the
misalignment between the external and internal field directions due to the
competition between anisotropy and geometry effects.Comment: 5 figure
Suppression of matching field effects by splay and pinning energy dispersion in YBa_2Cu_3O_7 with columnar defects
We report measurements of the irreversible magnetization M_i of a large
number of YBa_2Cu_3O_7 single crystals with columnar defects (CD). Some of them
exhibit a maximum in M_i when the density of vortices equals the density of
tracks, at temperatures above 40K. We show that the observation of these
matching field effects is constrained to those crystals where the orientational
and pinning energy dispersion of the CD system lies below a certain threshold.
The amount of such dispersion is determined by the mass and energy of the
irradiation ions, and by the crystal thickness. Time relaxation measurements
show that the matching effects are associated with a reduction of the creep
rate, and occur deep into the collective pinning regime.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Ferromagnetic bubble clusters in YCaMnO thin films
We studied the ferromagnetic topology in a YCaMnO thin
film with a combination of magnetic force microscopy and magnetization
measurements. Our results show that the spin-glass like behavior, reported
previously for this system, could be attributed to frustrated interfaces of the
ferromagnetic clusters embedded in a non-ferromagnetic matrix. We found
temperature dependent changes of the magnetic topology at low temperatures,
which suggests a non-static Mn/Mn ratio
Angular dependence of the magnetization of isotropic superconductors: which is the vortex direction?
We present studies of the dc magnetization of thin platelike samples of the
isotropic type II superconductor PbTl(10%), as a function of the angle between
the normal to the sample and the applied magnetic field . We determine
the magnetization vector by measuring the components both parallel
and normal to in a SQUID magnetometer, and we further decompose it in
its reversible and irreversible contributions. The behavior of the reversible
magnetization is well understood in terms of minimization of the free energy
taking into account geometrical effects. In the mixed state at low fields, the
dominant effect is the line energy gained by shortening the vortices, thus the
flux lines are almost normal to the sample surface. Due to the geometrical
constrain, the irreversible magnetization remains locked to the
sample normal over a wide range of fields and orientations, as already known.
We show that in order to undestand the angle and field dependence of the
modulus of , which is a measure of the vortex pinning, and to
correctly extract the field dependent critical current density, the knowledge
of the modulus and orientation of the induction field is required.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
The Effect of Splayed Pins on Vortex Creep and Critical Currents
We study the effects of splayed columnar pins on the vortex motion using
realistic London Langevin simulations. At low currents vortex creep is strongly
suppressed, whereas the critical current j_c is enhanced only moderately.
Splaying the pins generates an increasing energy barrier against vortex
hopping, and leads to the forced entanglement of vortices, both of which
suppress creep efficiently. On the other hand splaying enhances kink nucleation
and introduces intersecting pins, which cut off the energy barriers. Thus the
j_c enhancement is strongly parameter sensitive. We also characterize the angle
dependence of j_c, and the effect of different splaying geometries.Comment: 4 figure
Depinning of a superfluid vortex line by Kelvin waves
We measure the interaction of a single superfluid vortex with surface
irregularities. While vortex pinning in superconductors usually becomes weaker
at higher temperatures, we find the opposite behavior. The pinning steadily
increases throughout our measurement range, from 0.15Tc to over 0.5Tc. We also
find that moving the other end of the vortex decreases the pinning, so we
propose Kelvin waves along the vortex as a depinning mechanism.Comment: 5 figures; substantial revision including 2 new figure
Irreversible magnetization under rotating fields and lock-in effect on ErBa_2Cu_3O_7 single crystal with columnar defects
We have measured the irreversible magnetization M_i of an ErBa_2Cu_3O_7
single crystal with columnar defects (CD), using a technique based on sample
rotation under a fixed magnetic field H. This method is valid for samples whose
magnetization vector remains perpendicular to the sample surface over a wide
angle range - which is the case for platelets and thin films - and presents
several advantages over measurements of M_L(H) loops at fixed angles. The
resulting M_i(\Theta) curves for several temperatures show a peak in the CD
direction at high fields. At lower fields, a very well defined plateau
indicative of the vortex lock-in to the CD develops. The H dependence of the
lock-in angle \phi_L follows the H^{-1} theoretical prediction, while the
temperature dependence is in agreement with entropic smearing effects
corresponding to short range vortex-defects interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
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