Inhomogeneous current distribution in wide high-temperature superconducting small-angle grain boundaries

Using space resolved magneto-optical microscopy we have studied the development of the critical state in high temperature superconducting small-angle grain boundaries in magnetisation experiments. It has been found that with respect to the position in the grain boundary plane this critical state develops in a highly inhomogeneous manner. Towards the centre of the grain boundary there exists a distinct suppression of the inter-granular currents flowing across the grain boundary. A strong correlation between the static (critical current) and the dynamical properties (e.g. electric field or flux-line velocity) of the vortex system inside the grain boundary appears to be the principal mechanism for the observed inhomogeneous current distribution in wide bi-crystalline current bridges.Received: 6 August 2004, Published online: 14 December 2004PACS: 74.25.Sv Critical currents - 74.72.Bk Y-based cuprates - 74.78.Bz High-T _c films - 74.81.Bd Granular, melt-textured, amorphous and composite superconductors     

Vortex patterns and nucleation of superconductivity in mesoscopic rectangles and in hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet structures

Nucleation of superconductivity and vortex patterns have been studied in mesoscopic samples providing the crossover between square and rectangular geometries. The measured nucleation line, T _c (H), has been analyzed in the framework of the linearized Ginzburg-Landau theory. A very good agreement has been found between the theoretical T _c (H) boundary and the experimental data for rectangles with different aspect ratios. The superconductor/ferromagnet hybrids, such as magnetic Co/Pd dot in a superconducting loop and the dot on top of a superconducting disk have also been investigated. Pronounced effects of the dot on the T _c (H) boundary have been found, including strong asymmetry with respect to the field polarity.Received: 26 February 2004, Published online: 3 August 2004PACS: 74.25.Dw Superconductivity phase diagrams - 74.78.Na Mesoscopic and nanoscale systems     

On the use of STM superconducting tips at very low temperatures

We report on high quality local tunnel spectroscopy measurements in superconductors using in-situ fabricated superconducting tips as counterelectrode. The experiments were made at very low temperatures using a dilution refrigerator and a ³He cryostat. Spectra obtained with superconducting tip and sample of Al show that the spectroscopic resolution of our set-up is of 15 eV. Following the observation of Josephson current in tunnelling regime (with tips of Pb and of Al), we discuss the feasibility of Scanning Josephson Spectroscopy with atomic size resolution. Experiments showing new applications of these superconducting tips under applied external magnetic fields are also reported.Received: 12 May 2004, Published online: 7 September 2004PACS: 73.63.Rt Nanoscale contacts - 74.25.Fy Transport properties (electric and thermal conductivity, thermoelectric effects, etc.) - 74.25.Ha Magnetic properties - 74.50. + r Tunnelling phenomena; point contacts, weak links, Josephson effects - 74.78.Na Mesoscopic and nanoscale systems - 74.80.Fp Point contacts; SN and SNS junctions     

Two-dimensional mesoscopic vortex clusters in a superconducting ring: Shell structure and melting

The structure and phase transitions in the mesoscopic system of vortices in a quasi-two-dimensional superconducting ring are investigated. The shell structure of the mesoscopic system of vortices is studied, and its variation with the number of vortices and the parameters of the superconducting ring is analyzed. Two mechanisms of formation of new shells in vortex clusters with an increasing number of vortices in an increasing magnetic field are discovered: the generation of a new shell in a cluster and the splitting of the internal shell into two shells. The melting of vortex clusters and their thermodynamic parameters are analyzed using the Monte Carlo method. It is found that the melting of shell-type clusters occurs in two stages, orientation melting taking place at the lower temperature (during which nearly crystalline adjacent shells start rotating relative to each other) and blurring of the vortex structure occurring at the higher temperature. The shells obtained by splitting upon an increase in the number of vortices do not participate in orientational melting. The two-stage form of melting is associated with the smaller height of potential barriers being surmounted during the rotation of shells relative to one another as compared to the barrier for vortices jumping from one shell to another.     

Effect of orbital currents on the restricted optical conductivity sum rule

We derive the restricted optical-conductivity sum rule for a model with circulating orbital currents. It is shown that an unusual coupling of the vector potential to the interaction term of the model Hamiltonian results in a non-standard form of the sum rule. As a consequence, the temperature dependence of the restricted spectral weight could be compatible with existing experimental data for high-T _c cuprates above the critical temperature T _c . We extend our results to the superconducting state, and comment on the differences and analogies between these two symmetry-breaking phenomena.Received: 30 April 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 71.10.-w Theories and models of many-electron systems - 74.25.Gz Optical properties - 72.15.-v Electronic conduction in metals and alloys - 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-T _c and insulating parent compounds)S.G. Sharapov: Present address: Institute for Scientific Interchange, via Settimio Severo 65, 10133 Torino, Italy     

Mechanisms of periodic pinning in superconducting thin films

We studied the changes in the superconducting properties of Nb films due to an array of Ni dots used as collective pinning sites. To determine the pinning mechanism, thin Ag layers of varying thicknesses were deposited on the Ni dots prior to the Nb film deposition. The Ag deposited on the pinning dots has little effect on the collective pinning phenomena, which implies that the main pinning mechanism is of magnetic origin.Received: 3 February 2004, Published online: 31 August 2004PACS: 74.25.Qt Vortex lattices, flux pinning, flux creep - 74.78.-w Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures     

Reversible magnetization of a thin superconducting film with radiation defects

The thermodynamic potential of a system of Peierls vortices in a thin superconducting film, containing radiation defects, in a perpendicular external magnetic field is calculated. The equilibrium temperature dependences of the densities of free vortices and vortices trapped by defects are found in the mean-field approximation for various magnitudes of the external field. It is shown that the equilibrium magnetization of a thin superconducting film exhibits the same features that were observed experimentally in the reversible magnetization of high-temperature superconductors. An asymptotic expression is obtained for the difference of the magnetizations of perfect and irradiated films. According to this expression, the difference depends on the pinning energy of a vortex on a defect and the density of defects.     

Junction of three off-critical quantum Ising chains and two-channel Kondo effect in a superconductor

We show that a junction of three off-critical quantum Ising chains can be regarded as a quantum spin chain realization of the two-channel spin-1/2 overscreened Kondo effect with two superconducting leads. We prove that, as long as the Kondo temperature is larger than the superconducting gap, the equivalent Kondo model flows towards the two channel Kondo fixed point. We argue that our system provides the first controlled realization of two channel Kondo effect with superconducting leads. Besides its theoretical interest, this result is of importance for potential applications to a number of contexts, including the analysis of the quantum entanglement properties of a Kondo system.     

磁场作用下超导圆环的涡旋演化

利用Ginzburg-Landau理论模拟在外磁场作用下超导圆环的涡旋演化,讨论了外磁场、材料参数以及圆环内外径对涡旋进入超导圆环体以及涡旋达到稳定分布的影响.研究结果表明:外磁场越大,材料参数κ越大,圆环环身越宽,则超导圆环体内容纳的涡旋就越多.当磁场较小时,涡旋只由内边界进入超导体,当磁场足够大时,涡旋则先由外边界,然后再从内边界进入超导体.     

Dynamic regimes in films with a periodic array of antidots

We have studied the dynamic response of Pb thin films with a square array of antidots by means of ac susceptibility measurements. At low enough ac drive amplitudes h, vortices moving inside the pinning potential give rise to a frequency- and h-independent response together with a scarce dissipation. For higher amplitudes, the average distance travelled by vortices surpasses the pinning range and a critical state develops. We found that the boundary h^*(H,T) between these regimes smoothly decreases as T increases whereas a step-like behavior is observed as a function of field. We demonstrate that these steps in h^*(H) arise from sharp changes in the pinning strength corresponding to different vortex configurations. For a wide set of data at several fields and temperatures in the critical state regime, we show that the scaling laws based on the simple Bean model are satisfied.Received: 13 October 2003, Published online: 19 February 2004PACS: 74.78.Na Mesoscopic and nanoscale systems - 74.25.Sv Critical currents - 74.78.Db Low-T_c films     

Staggered flux vortices and the superconducting transition in the layered cuprates

We propose an effective model for the superconducting transition in the high-T(c) cuprates motivated by the SU(2) gauge theory approach. In addition to variations of the superconducting phase we allow for local admixture of staggered flux order. This leads to an unbinding transition of vortices with a staggered flux core that are energetically preferable to conventional vortices. Based on parameter estimates for the two-dimensional t-J model we argue that the staggered flux vortices provide a way to understand a phase with a moderate density of mobile vortices over a large temperature range above T(c) that yet exhibits otherwise normal transport properties. This picture is consistent with the large Nernst signal observed in this region.     

Charged Vortices in an Abelian Higgs Model with Chern-Simons Term at Finite Temperature

Charged vortex solutions are found iri a (2+1)-dimensional Abelian Higgs model with Chern- Simons term at finite temperature. It is shown that there exists a finite critical temperature at which vortices disappear and it implies that the system changes fiom superconducting state to normal state at this critical temperature.     

On the Incompressible Fluid Limit and the Vortex Motion Law of the Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

The nonlinear Schr?dinger equation (NLS) has been a fundamental model for understanding vortex motion in superfluids. The vortex motion law has been formally derived on various physical grounds and has been around for almost half a century. We study the nonlinear Schr?dinger equation in the incompressible fluid limit on a bounded domain with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary condition. The initial condition contains any finite number of degree ± 1 vortices. We prove that the NLS linear momentum weakly converges to a solution of the incompressible Euler equation away from the vortices. If the initial NLS energy is almost minimizing, we show that the vortex motion obeys the classical Kirchhoff law for fluid point vortices. Similar results hold for the entire plane and periodic cases, and a related complex Ginzburg–Landau equation. We treat as well the semi-classical (WKB) limit of NLS in the presence of vortices. In this limit, sound waves propagate through steady vortices. Received: 1 December 1997 / Accepted: 27 June 1998     

Magnetic flux penetration into high-temperature superconductors in the vortex liquid state under the blow-up conditions

The problem of magnetic field penetration into a type-II high-temperature superconductor that is in the weakly pinned vortex-liquid phase is considered. A magnetic field on the superconductor boundary rises with time in the blow-up regime. A model hydrodynamic equation describing the magnetic induction distribution in the vortex-liquid phase for thermomagnetic motion of the flux is derived. Analytical expressions for the depth and rate of magnetic field penetration into the superconductor are found. It is demonstrated that these quantities depend on parameters of the problem: index of power n in the boundary regime characterizing the penetration rate of vortices into the superconducting half-space and a parameter describing the effect of random pinning forces and thermal fluctuations on the magnetic flux distribution.     

On the Effect of Boundary Conditions in the Ginzburg–Landau Theory on the Results of Calculations of the Critical State of Layered Structures

The effect of boundary conditions in the Ginzburg–Landau theory on the critical state of superconducting layered structures is studied. The method is based on the numerical solution of the Ginzburg–Landau nonlinear equations describing the behavior of a superconducting plate carrying a transport current in a magnetic field, provided the absence of vortices in it. The use of the general boundary condition for the Ginzburg–Landau system of equations leads to a change in the order parameter over the thickness of thin superconducting plates. The calculated dependences of the critical current of plates on the magnetic field applied in parallel to layers are used to determine the critical current of multilayered structures. It is assumed that the mutual influence of superconducting layers occurs only through the magnetic field induced by them.     

Structure of the mixed state induced in thin YBaCuO superconducting films by the field of a small ferromagnetic particle

The temperature dependence of the local energy barrier to formation of the mixed state in YBaCuO thin-film superconducting samples has been determined. The measurement technique is based on use of a small ferromagnetic particle as the magnetic field source. It is found that the energy barrier to creation of vortices (for the field oriented parallel to the CuO planes) is anomalously small while the dependence of the corresponding threshold current j _c(T) differs substantially from the temperature dependence of the pair-breaking current. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of the model of a Josephson medium. The observed temperature dependence of j _c points to a strong suppression of the superconducting order parameter at the intergrain boundaries, which for the most probable type of boundaries: superconductor-insulator-superconductor, is evidence of anisotropic pairing. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1735–1749 (November 1999)     

基于温敏漆技术的圆锥高超声速大攻角绕流背风面流动结构实验研究

高超声速流动中, 大攻角下圆锥背风面边界层会存在流动分离与再附、边界层转捩等多种流动现象, 进而对圆锥表面温度分布产生显著的影响。为了对这一复杂流动规律及其对表面温升分布的影响进行讨论, 研究基于温敏漆技术, 得到了在Mach数为6的低湍流度来流条件下, 攻角为10°的圆锥背风面温升分布结果。通过对不同位置、不同方位角处温升分布曲线的分析, 对大攻角下圆锥背风面边界层流动发展过程及不同发展阶段的流动特征进行了讨论。同时, 通过对来流总压的调节, 得到了不同Reynolds数下的圆锥背风面温升分布结果, 总结了Reynolds数对流动的影响规律。研究发现, 高超声速大攻角圆锥背风面边界层流动发展过程中会依次出现层流分离、定常横流涡影响、转捩以及湍流分离与再附等流动特征, 而在不同的Reynolds数下, 各个流动特征产生影响的范围不同, 随着Reynolds数的降低, 层流范围和定常横流涡影响范围均有所增加, 而从观察到横流影响到转捩开始发生的范围基本相同。      

Critical vortex line length near a zigzag of pinning centers

A vortex line passes through as many pinning centers as possible on its way from one extremety of the superconductor to the other at the expense of increasing its self-energy. In the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory we study the relative growth in length, with respect to the straight line, of a vortex near a zigzag of defects. The defects are insulating pinning spheres that form a three-dimensional cubic array embedded in the superconductor. We determine the depinning transition beyond which the vortex line no longer follows the critical zigzag path of defects.Received: 23 July 2004, Published online: 26 November 2004PACS: 74.80.-g Spatially inhomogeneous structures - 74.25.-q General properties; correlations between physical properties in normal and superconducting states - 74.20.De Phenomenological theories (two-fluid, Ginzburg-Landau, etc.)     

An investigation of the 2D attractive Hubbard model

We present an investigation of the 2D attractive Hubbard model, considered as an effective model relevant to superconductivity in strongly interacting electron systems. We use both hybrid Monte-Carlo simulations and existing hopping parameter expansions to explore the low temperature domain. The increase of the static S-wave pair correlation with decreasing temperature, which depends weakly on the band filling in the explored temperature range, is analyzed in terms of an expected Kosterlitz-Thouless superconducting transition. Using both our data and previously published results, we show that the evidence for this transition is weak: If it exists, its temperature is very low. The number of unpaired electrons remains nearly constant with temperature at fixed attractive potential strength. In contrast, the static magnetic susceptibility decreases fast with temperature, and cannot be related only to pair formation. We introduce a method by which the Padé approximants of the existing series for the susceptibility give sensible results down to rather low temperature region, as shown by comparison with our numerical data. Received: 30 October 1996 / Revised: 23 October 1997 / Accepted: 29 January 1998     

Dynamic and static phases of vortices under an applied drive in a superconducting stripe with an array of weak links

Static and dynamic properties of superconducting vortices in a superconducting stripe with a periodic array of weakly-superconducting (or normal metal) regions are studied in the presence of external magnetic and electric fields. The time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory is used to describe the electronic transport, where the anisotropy is included through the spatially-dependent critical temperature T _c . Superconducting vortices penetrating into the weak-superconducting region with smaller T _c are more mobile than the ones in the strong superconducting regions. We observe periodic entrance and exit of vortices which reside in the weak link for some short interval. The mobility of the weakly-pinned vortices can be reduced by increasing the uniform applied magnetic field leading to distinct features in the voltage vs. magnetic field response of the system.