Order-disorder transition induced by deformation of vortex lines at the twin boundaries in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$-crystals: test of the Lindemann criteria
Yu. T. Petrusenko, A. V. Bondarenko, A. A. Zavgorodniy, M. A. Obolenskii, V. I. Beletskii
We show that rotation of the magnetic field off the plane of twin boundaries (TB's) induces transition of an ordered vortex solid phase to a disordered one. This transition arises due to appearance of transverse deformations of vortex lines near the TB's, $u_{t,TB}$, the amplitude of which satisfies the Lindemann criteria, $u_{t,rp}=c_La_0$. This order-disorder transition is accompanied by an increase in the depinning current, by crossover from an elastic creep to plastic one, and by appearance of the $S$-shaped voltage-current characteristics.
By means of a novel technique of rotating the applied current we have directly measured the influence of twin boundaries on the vortex motion in a YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ single crystal. The results indicate that the effect of twin planes on the vortex dynamics starts to develop below a certain temperature, being responsible for an anisotropic viscosity in the vortex liquid state and a guided motion in the solid state.
The critical current (Jc) of highly twinned YBa2Cu3O7 films has been measured as a function of temperature, magnetic field and angle. For much of the parameter space we observe a strong suppression of Jc for fields in the twin boundary (TB) directions; this is quantitatively modeled as flux-cutting-mediated vortex channeling. For certain temperatures and fields a cross-over occurs to a regime in which channeling is blocked and the TBs act as planar pinning centers so that TB pinning enhances the overall Jc. In this regime, intrinsic pinning along the TBs is comparable to that between the twins…
We report on marked memory effects in the vortex system of twinned YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals observed in ac susceptibility measurements. We show that the vortex system can be trapped in different metastable states with variable degree of order arising in response to different system histories. The pressure exerted by the oscillating ac field assists the vortex system in ordering, locally reducing the critical current density in the penetrated outer zone of the sample. The robustness of the ordered and disordered states together with the spatial profile of the critical current density lead to t…
We present the transport studies of field variation of the pinning force for the flux motion across the twin boundaries in YBaCuO single crystals. It is found that the depinning current J_c decreases with an increase in the magnetic field due to reduction of the portion of vortex lines trapped by the TB's. However, at transport currents J << J_c, the vortex velocity weakly decreases with the increased field, i.e. it is determined mainly by the release of the vortex lines from the TB's.
We present an exhaustive analysis of transport measurements performed in twinned YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals which stablishes that the vortex solid-liquid transition is first order when the magnetic field H is applied at an angle theta away from the direction of the twin planes. We show that the resistive transitions are hysteretic and the V-I curves are non-linear, displaying a characteristic s-shape at the melting line Hm(T), which scales as epsilon(theta)Hm(T,theta). These features are gradually lost when the critical point H*(theta) is approached. Above H*(theta) the V-I characteristics show…
We report on small-angle neutron scattering studies of the intrinsic vortex lattice (VL) structure in detwinned YBa2Cu3O7 at 2 K, and in fields up to 10.8 T. Because of the suppressed pinning to twin-domain boundaries, a new distorted hexagonal VL structure phase is stabilized at intermediate fields. It is separated from a low-field hexagonal phase of different orientation and distortion by a first-order transition at 2.0(2) T that is probably driven by Fermi surface effects. We argue that another first-order transition at 6.7(2) T, into a rhombic structure with a distortion of opposite sign, …
We measured magnetization, M, of a twin-aligned single crystal of YBa2Cu 3Ox (YBaCuO), with Tc = 91 K, as a function of temperature, T, and magnetic field, H, with H applied along the ab planes. Isothermal M-vs.-H and M-vs.-time curves were obtained with H applied parallel and perpendicular to the twin boundary, TB, direction. M-vs.-H curves exhibited two minimums below 38 K, which resembled similar curves that have been obtained in YBaCuO for H parallel to c axis. Above 12 K, the field positions of the minimums for H||TB and HperpTB were quite similar. Below 12 K, the position of the second m…
We report on the scaling of transport properties around the vortex melting in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7- δ}$ oriented-twin single crystals in applied magnetic fields between 1T and 18T. We find that for all the measured field range the linear resistivity scales as $ρ(t,θ) \sim t^{sy} {\cal F}_{\pm} (\sin(θ)t^{-sx})$, with $t=|T-T_{BG}|$ and $θ$ the angle between de planar defects and the magnetic field. The scaling is valid only for angles where the transition temperature $T_{BG} (θ)$ shows a cusp. The critical exponents $sx$ and $sy$ are in agreement with the values predicted by Lidmar and Wallin on…
The experimental results on the magnetic response of YBCO single crystals with unidirectional twin boundary planes in low magnetic fields (0.01 - 1 Oe) are discussed. The observed non-monotone temperature dependence of magnetization is interpreted within a plausible model of a system of the Josephson weak links in the twin boundary planes and on the basis of the order parameter anisotropy.
The vortex lattice (VL) in the high-kappa superconductor YBa2Cu3O7, at 2 K and with the magnetic field parallel to the crystal c-axis, undergoes a sequence of transitions between different structures as a function of applied magnetic field. However, from structural studies alone, it is not possible to determine precisely the system anisotropy that governs the transitions between different structures. To address this question, here we report new small-angle neutron scattering measurements of both the VL structure at higher temperatures, and the field- and temperature-dependence of the VL form f…
Measurements of the Hall effect and the resistivity in twinned YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films in magnetic fields B oriented parallel to the crystallographic c-axis and to the twin boundaries reveal a double sign reversal of the Hall coefficient for B below 1 T. In high transport current densities, or with B tilted off the twin boundaries by 5 degrees, the second sign reversal vanishes. The power-law scaling of the Hall conductivity to the longitudinal conductivity in the mixed state is strongly modified in the regime of the second sign reversal. Our observations are interpreted as strong, disorder…
The influence of Twin Boundaries (TB) on the Flux Line Lattice(FLL) structure was investigated by Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). YBaCuO single crystals possessing different TB densities were studied. The SANS experiments show that the TB strongly modify the structure of the FLL. The flux lines meander as soon as the magnetic field makes an angle with the TB direction. According to the value of this angle but also to the ratio of the flux lines density over the TB density, one observes that the FLL exhibits two different unit cells in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. One i…
We have examined the effects of 20 keV electron irradiation on [-Cu(1)-O(1)-]n chain oxygen arrangements in oxygen deficient but otherwise twin-free YBa2Cu3O6+x single crystals. Comparison of polarized Raman spectra of non-irradiated and irradiated areas provides evidence that electron bombardments instigate the collective hopping of oxygen atoms either from an interstitial at O(5) site to a vacant O(1) chain site or by reshuffling the chain segments to extend the average length of chains without changing the overall oxygen content. This oxygen ordering effect, while counter-intuitive, is anal…
Thanks to the 9 contacts deposited on the surface of a high quality YBCO twinned single crystal, we investigate both vortex guided motion along twins and the mixed state Hall effect. Firstly, we clearly identify the vortex phase transition and show that, when the magnetic field is along the twin boundaries (within about 2 degrees), the vortex solid is a Bose glass. Secondly, the effects of twins on the vortex dynamics are studied by measuring the direction and magnitude of the total electric field while rotating the current in the ab plane. We observe a partially guided vortex motion along the…
The peak effect (PE) has been observed in a twinned crystal of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ for H$\parallel$c in the low field range, close to the zero field superconducting transition temperature (T$_c$(0)) . A sharp depinning transition succeeds the peak temperature T$_p$ of the PE. The PE phenomenon broadens and its internal structure smoothens out as the field is increased or decreased beyond the interval between 250 Oe and 1000 Oe. Moreover, the PE could not be observed above 10 kOe and below 20 Oe. The locus of the T$_p$(H) values shows a reentrant characteristic with a nose like feature locat…
The polarized Raman scattering spectra from freshly cleaved $ab$, $ac$, and $bc$ surfaces of high quality twin free YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$ (Ortho-II) single crystals ($T_c$=57.5 K and $ΔT = 0.6$ K) were studied between 80 and 300 K. All eleven $A_g$ Raman modes expected for the Ortho-II structure as well some modes of $B_{2g}$ and $B_{3g}$ symmetry were identified in close comparison with predictions of lattice dynamical calculations. The electronic scattering from the $ab$ planes is strongly anisotropic and decreases between 200 and 100 K within the temperature range of previously reported ps…
Sub-nanovolt resolution longitudinal and Hall voltages are measured in an ultra pure YBa2Cu3O7-d single crystal. The Hall anomaly and the first-order vortex-lattice melting transition are observed simultaneously. Changes in the dynamic behavior of the vortex solid and liquid are correlated with features of the Hall conductivity sxy. With the magnetic field oriented at an angle from the twin-boundaries, the Hall conductivity sharply decreases toward large negative values at the vortex-lattice melting transition.
In a recent Comment [arXiv:0711.4654], Y. Ando raises two valid issues in relation to our low-temperature heat transport study of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ across the insulator-to-superconductor boundary: 1) the possible role of twin boundaries in scattering phonons; 2) the best fitting procedure for extracting a fermionic (linear) term from the data. In this Reply, we show that both concerns can be laid to rest by 1) using new data from a tetragonal (twin-free) sample, and 2) using an analysis that does not involve any fitting.
We present a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering study of the magnetic excitations in twin-free YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6.6) (Tc=61 K) for 5 K < T < 290 K. Taking full account of the instrumental resolution, we derive analytical model functions for the magnetic susceptibility chi''(Q,omega) at T = 5 K and 70 K in absolute units. Our models are supported by previous results on similar samples and are valid at least up to excitation energies of omega = 100 meV. The detailed knowledge of chi''(Q,omega) permits quantitative comparison to the results of complementary techniques including angle-resolved…
The first-order nature of the vortex-lattice melting transition in copper-based layered high-Tc superconductors is well established. The associated discontinuities in magnetization have been extensively studied, for example, in YBa2Cu3O7 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, while the respective latent heats have been systematically investigated only in YBa2Cu3O7 and related compounds. The apparent absence of such signatures in conventional superconductors such as Nb raises the question whether or not the concept of vortex-lattice melting is applicable at all in such materials. Based on available literature to d…
We report on transport and ac susceptibility studies below the peak effect in twinned YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals. We find that disorder generated at the peak effect can be partially inhibited by forcing vortices to move with an ac driving current. The vortex system can be additionally ordered below a well-defined temperature where elastic interactions between vortices overcome pinning-generated stress and a plastic to elastic crossover seems to occur. The combined effect of these two processes results in vortex structures with different mobilities that give place to history effects.
A.Rydh and Ö.Rapp [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 1873 (2001).] claim that the vortex liquid in untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ crystals is correlated above the melting transition, in striking contrast to previous work [D.López {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 76}, 4034 (1996).]. In this Comment we present new measurements using the same experimental technique on twinned and untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ crystals with similar overall characteristics as those reported by Rydh and Rapp . The comparison of the vortex correlation response in both cases indicates that the central conclusion of t…
We report on small angle neutron scattering measurements of the vortex lattice in twin-free YBa2Cu3O7, extending the previously investigated maximum field of 11~T up to 16.7~T with the field applied parallel to the c axis. This is the first microscopic study of vortex matter in this region of the superconducting phase. We find the high field VL displays a rhombic structure, with a field-dependent coordination that passes through a square configuration, and which does not lock-in to a field-independent structure. The VL pinning reduces with increasing temperature, but is seen to affect the VL c…
We have measured the transverse thermal conductivity $κ_{xy}$ of twinned and untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ single crystals as a function of angle $θ$ between the magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO$_2$ planes and the heat current direction, at different magnetic fields and temperatures. For both crystals we observed a clear twofold variation in the field-angle dependence of $κ_{xy}(θ) = - κ^0_{xy}(T,B) \sin(2θ)$. We have found that the oscillation amplitude $κ^0_{xy}$ depends on temperature and magnetic field. Our results show that $κ^0_{xy} = a B \ln(1/(bB))$ with the temperature- and s…
There is increasing evidence that inhomogeneous distributions of charge and spin--so-called "striped phases"--play an important role in determining the properties of the high-temperature superconductors. For example, recent neutron-scattering measurements on the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ family of materials show both spin and charge fluctuations that are consistent with the striped-phase picture. But the fluctuations associated with a striped phase are expected to be one-dimensional, whereas the magnetic fluctuations observed to date appear to display two-dimensional symmetry. We show here that t…
We have performed high-resolution measurements of the magnetic field (0~T~$ \le B \le 9~$T) and temperature (10 K~$\le T < 140~$K) dependence of the longitudinal and transverse Hall thermal conductivity of a twinned YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6.95}$ single crystal. We have used and compared two recently published methods to extract the thermal Hall angle $θ_H(T,B)$. Our results indicate that $\cot(θ_H)$ varies quite accurately as $T^4$ in the intermediate temperature range $\sim 0.3 < T/T_c$. It shows a well defined minimum at $T_m \simeq 20~$K which resembles that observed in the $c$-axis microwave…
Anisotropy is an intrinsic factor that dictates the magnetic properties of YBCO, thus with great impact for many applications. Artificial pinning centres are often introduced in an attempt to mitigate its effect, resulting in less anisotropic electrical and magnetic properties. However, the nanoengineering of the superconductor makes the quantification of the anisotropy itself uncertain: the intrinsic anisotropy due to the layered structure, quantified by the anisotropy factor $γ$, mixes up with the additional anisotropy due to pinning. As a consequence, there is no consensus on the experiment…
We set up a melting model for vortex lattices in high-temperature superconductors based on the continuum elasticity theory. The model is Gaussian and includes defect fluctuations by means of a discrete-valued vortex gauge field. We derive the melting temperature of the lattice and predict the size of the Lindemann number. Our result agrees well with experiments for $ {\rm YBa}_2 {\rm Cu}_3 {\rm O}_{7-δ} $, and with modifications also for $ {\rm Bi}_2 {\rm Sr}_2 {\rm Ca} {\rm Cu}_2 {\rm O}_8 $ . We calculate the jumps in the entropy and the magnetic induction at the melting transition.
The existence of Josephson tunneling has been demonstrated between YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ and Pb with the current flowing along the c-axis of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$. This is presumed to come from an s-wave component of the superconductivity in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$, perhaps induced by the orthorhombic distortion. This hypothesis by itself appears to be in contradiction with experiments on twinned samples whose tunneling current does not follow random statistics. We present a theory which depends on a competition between the intertwin d-wave coupling and a relatively enhanced s-wave component …
In present work the conductivity in the basis plane of YBaCuO single crystals slightly doped by Al and Pr with a pre-specified topology of twin boundaries has been investigated. The excess conductivity for the analyzed samples shows dependence like $Δσ\sim(1-T/T^*)\exp(Δ_{ab}^*/T)$ in wide temperature range $T_f<T<T^*$, where $T^*$ can be represents as mean field temperature of superconducting transition. The temperature dependence of pseudogap can be satisfactory described in terms of the BCS-BEC crossover theoretical model.
We have measured the thermal conductivity tensor of a twinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ single crystal as a function of angle $θ$ between the magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO$_2$ planes and the heat current direction, at different magnetic fields and at T=13.8 K. Clear fourfold and twofold variations in the field-angle dependence of $κ_{xx}$ and $κ_{xy}$ were respectively recorded in accordance with the d-wave pairing symmetry of the order parameter. The oscillation amplitude of the transverse thermal conductivity $κ^0_{xy}$ was found to be larger than the longitudinal one $κ^0_{xx}$ in…
We report measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of twinned single crystals of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+x}$ from just above their superconducting transition temperatures to 300 K with magnetic fields of up to 5 T applied parallel and perpendicular to the CuO$_2$ planes at 7 values of $x$. Appropriate analysis allows the relatively small, but still important, Curie terms to be separated from other contributions to the susceptibility. Our data support a picture in which the Curie terms arise from oxygen disorder in the Cu-O chains. This agrees with published work on polycrystalline samples wh…
The effect of electron irradiation with the energy of 2.5 MeV on the temperature dependences of the resistivity of an optimally doped $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-δ}$ single crystal has been studied. The temperature dependences of both fluctuation conductivity $σ^\prime(T)$ and the pseudogap $Δ^*(T)$ on irradiation dose $ϕ$ have been calculated within the local pair model. Here we show that with an increase in $ϕ$, the value of $ρ(300 K)$ increases linearly, while $T_c$ decreases linearly. Concurrently, the value of $ρ{100 K}$ increases nonlinearly, demonstrating a feature for $ϕ_3$ = 4.3 10$^{18}$ e/$cm^2$…
We have grown untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ (YBCO) films on (110) MgO substrates that were pre-annealed at high temperature in oxygen atmosphere. The annealing results in surface reconstruction with shallow facets, which induce the suppression of the YBCO twinning domains, and the preferential alignment of the CuO chains along one of the in-plane directions of the substrate. Because of the large mismatch between the in-plane lattice parameters of film and substrate, the strain induced by the MgO into the YBCO layer is strong and very peculiar. The YBCO film is compressed, with respect to th…
We analyze the angular dependence of the irreversible magnetization of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ crystals with columnar defects inclined from the c-axis. At high fields a sharp maximum centered at the tracks' direction is observed. At low fields we identify a lock-in phase characterized by an angle-independent pinning strength and observe an angular shift of the peak towards the c-axis that originates in the material anisotropy. The interplay among columnar defects, twins and ab-planes generates a variety of staircase structures. We show that correlated pinning dominates for all field orientations.
The in-field critical current of commercial YBa2Cu3O7 coated conductors can be substantially enhanced by post-fabrication irradiation with 4 MeV protons. Irradiation to a fluence of 8x10^16 p/cm^2 induces a near doubling of the critical current in fields of 6 T || c at a temperature of 27 K, a field and temperature range of interest for applications such as rotating machinery. A mixed pinning landscape of preexisting precipitates and twin boundaries and small, finely dispersed irradiation induced defects may account for the improved vortex pinning in high magnetic fields. Our data indicate tha…
We present the results of an experimental study of vortex dynamics in non-twinned $YBa_2Cu_3O_{6,87}$ crystal. It is found that critical currents $J_c$ and $J_{c,dyn}$, which correspond to the pinning force in the thermal creep and flux flow mode, respectively, non-monotonically vary with the magnetic field. However, the minimum in the $J_{c,dyn}(H)$ dependence is observed in higher fields, compared with the minimum position $H_{OD}$ in the $J_c(H)$ dependence. Considering that the field $H_{OD}$ corresponds to the static order-disorder transition, this difference is explained by partial dynam…
Oscillatory dynamics and quasi-static Campbell regime of the vortex lattice (VL) in twinned YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals has been explored at low fields near the peak effect (PE) region by linear and non-linear ac susceptibility measurements. We show evidence that the PE is a dynamic anomaly observed in the non-linear response, and is absent in the Labusch constant derived from the linear Campbell regime. Static properties play a major role however, and we identify two H(T) lines defining the onset and the end of the effect. At H1(T) a sudden increase in the curvature of the pinning potential wel…
Keeping in mind our conjecture of modelling cuprates and related systems by quantum groups and our claim that the existence of stripes is intimately related to quantum groups and more strongly is a consequence of the underlying quantum group structure we note that a recent claim that {\em magnetic fluctuations} also displays a one-dimensional character makes our conjecture more viable. The recent strong claim by Mook et al., if true further supports our intuition. For the fluctuations associated with a striped phase are expected to be one-dimensional, whereas the magnetic fluctuations are {\em…
