Direct Evidence for Edge-Contaminated Vortex Phase in a Nb Single Crystal using Neutron Diffraction
| Title: | Direct Evidence for Edge-Contaminated Vortex Phase in a Nb Single Crystal using Neutron Diffraction |
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| Authors: | Hanson, Helen A., Wang, Xi, Dimitrov, Ivo K., Shi, Jing, Ling, Xinsheng Sean, Majkrzak, Charles F., Maranville, Brian B., Laver, Mark, Keiderling, Uwe, Russina, Margarita |
| Publication Year: | 2011 |
| Collection: | Condensed Matter |
| Subject Terms: | Condensed Matter - Superconductivity, Condensed Matter - Materials Science |
| More Details: | We report the first direct observation of a disordered vortex matter phase existing near the edge of a bulk type-II superconductor Nb using a novel position-sensitive neutron diffraction technique. This "edge-contaminated" vortex state was implicated in previous studies using transport techniques and was postulated to have played a significant role in the behavior of vortex dynamics in a wide range of type-II superconductors. It is found that upon thermal annealing, the vortex matter in the bulk undergoes re-ordering, suggesting that the edge-contaminated bulk vortex state is metastable. The edge vortex state remains disordered after repeated thermal annealing, indicating spatial coexistence of a vortex glass with a Bragg glass. This observation resolves many outstanding issues concerning the peak effect in type-II superconductors. Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures |
| Document Type: | Working Paper |
| Access URL: | http://arxiv.org/abs/1103.1273 |
| Accession Number: | edsarx.1103.1273 |
| Database: | arXiv |
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