273 research outputs found
Latent-heat and non-linear vortex liquid at the vicinity of the first-order phase transition in layered high-Tc superconductors
In this work we revisit the vortex matter phase diagram in layered
superconductors solving still open questions by means of AC and DC local
magnetic measurements in the paradigmatic BiSrCaCuO
compound. We show that measuring with AC magnetic techniques is mandatory in
order to probe the bulk response of vortex matter, particularly at
high-temperatures where surface barriers for vortex entrance dominate. From the
-evolution of the enthalpy and latent-heat at the transition we
find that, contrary to previous reports, the nature of the dominant interlayer
coupling is electromagnetic in the whole temperature range. By studying the
dynamic properties of the phase located at , we reveal
the spanning in a considerable fraction of the phase diagram of a non-linear
vortex phase suggesting bulk pinning might play a role even in the liquid
vortex phase.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1212.456
Interplay between superconductivity and itinerant magnetism in underdoped BaKFeAs ( 0.2) probed by the response to controlled point-like disorder
The response of superconductors to controlled introduction of point-like
disorder is an important tool to probe their microscopic electronic collective
behavior. In the case of iron-based superconductors (IBS), magnetic
fluctuations presumably play an important role in inducing high temperature
superconductivity. In some cases, these two seemingly incompatible orders
coexist microscopically. Therefore, understanding how this unique coexistence
state is affected by disorder can provide important information about the
microscopic mechanisms involved. In one of the most studied pnictide family,
hole-doped BaKFeAs (BaK122), this coexistence occurs over a
wide range of doping levels, 0.16~~0.25. We used
relativistic 2.5 MeV electrons to induce vacancy-interstitial (Frenkel) pairs
that act as efficient point-like scattering centers. Upon increasing dose of
irradiation, the superconducting transition temperature decreases
dramatically. In the absence of nodes in the order parameter this provides a
strong support for a sign-changing pairing. Simultaneously, in the
normal state, there is a strong violation of the Matthiessen's rule and a
decrease (surprisingly, at the same rate as ) of the magnetic transition
temperature , which indicates the itinerant nature of the long-range
magnetic order. Comparison of the hole-doped BaK122 with electron-doped
Ba(FeCo)As (FeCo122) with similar 110~K,
0.02, reveals significant differences in the normal states, with no
apparent Matthiessen's rule violation above on the electron-doped
side. We interpret these results in terms of the distinct impact of impurity
scattering on the competing itinerant antiferromagnetic and
superconducting orders
Do columnar defects produce bulk pinning?
From magneto-optical imaging performed on heavy-ion irradiated YBaCuO single
crystals, it is found that at fields and temperatures where strong single
vortex pinning by individual irradiation-induced amorphous columnar defects is
to be expected, vortex motion is limited by the nucleation of vortex kinks at
the specimen surface rather than by half-loop nucleation in the bulk. In the
material bulk, vortex motion occurs through (easy) kink sliding. Depinning in
the bulk determines the screening current only at fields comparable to or
larger than the matching field, at which the majority of moving vortices is not
trapped by an ion track.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
- …