Hanson, H.
, Wang, X.
, Dimitrov, I.
, Shi, J.
, Ling, X.
, Maranville, B.
, Majkrzak, C.
, Laver, M.
, Keiderling, U.
and Russina, M.
(2011),
Structural Evidence for an Edge-Contaminated Vortex Phase in a Nb Crystal using Neutron Diffrraction, Physical Review B, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=908568
(Accessed October 1, 2025)
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Structural Evidence for an Edge-Contaminated Vortex Phase in a Nb Crystal using Neutron Diffrraction
Published
Author(s)
Helen A. Hanson, X. Wang, I. K. Dimitrov, J. Shi, X. S. Ling, , , M. Laver, U. Keiderling, M. Russina
Abstract
We report the structural 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 magneto-optics and is postulated to play a significant role in the behavior of vortex dynamics in a wide range of type-II superconductors. In this sample, thermal annealing causes the vortex matter in the interior to re-order implying that the edge-contaminated bulk state is metastable. However, the edge vortex structure remains disordered after repeated thermal annealing indicating spatial coexistence of a vortex glass with a Bragg glass. This observation resolves outstanding issues concerning the peak effect in type-II superconductors.Citation
Physical Review B
Volume
84
Issue
1
Pub Type
Journals
Download Paper
Citation
Issues
If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact [email protected].
Created July 19, 2011, Updated October 12, 2021