Inclined-field structure, morphology and pinning of the vortex lattice in microtwinned YBa2Cu3O7

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 262; no. 5130; pp. 83 - 86
• Main Authors: KEIMER, B, DOGAN, F, AKSAY, I. A, ERWIN, R. W, LYNN, J. W, SARIKAYA, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 01.10.1993
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Physics; Properties of type I and type II superconductors; Superconductivity; Crystal twin; Transition metal Compounds; Experimental study; Image; Single crystal; Inorganic compound; Flux line lattice; Triangular lattice; Flux pinning; Critical current; Neutron scattering; Angular variation; Vortex; Magnetic field; Barium Copper Yttrium Oxides Mixed; High temperature superconductor
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.262.5130.83

A detailed small-angle neutron scattering study of the vortex lattice in a single crystal of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) was made for a field of 0.5 tesla inclined at angles between 0 and 80 degrees to the crystalline c axis. The vortex lattice is triangular for all angles, and for angles less than or equal to 70 degrees its orientation adjusts itself to maximize the pinning energy to densely and highly regularly spaced twin planes. These observations have important implications for the microscopic flux-pinning mechanism, and hence for the critical current achievable in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7). For large angles (about 80 degrees) the vortex lattice consists of independent chains in the orientation predicted by anisotropic London theory.