Giant magnetostriction and flux jumps in superconducting Nb3Al polycrystalline slab

Transverse and longitudinal magnetostriction of a large polycrystalline slab of Nb₃Al superconductor was investigated by the strain gauge technique. At 4.2 K and in an external magnetic field of several Tesla the vertical width of transverse magnetostriction hysteresis loop was found to be of an order of 10⁻⁴. In a wide range of temperatures and external magnetic fields we observed the phenomenon of giant jumps of both transverse and longitudinal magnetostriction caused by thermomagnetic avalanches. The shapes of the magnetostriction hysteresis loops are also influenced by the phenomenon of the second maximum of the critical current density, called as a peak or fishtail effect. Experimental results can be understood in the framework of the model of the magnetostriction induced by pinning forces.