The effect of correlated and point defects on the vortex lattice melting transition in single-crystal YBa2Cu3O7-δ
Date
1994Source
Physica B: Physics of Condensed MatterVolume
197Pages
579-587Google Scholar check
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The vortex melting transition Tm in several untwinned and twinned crystals is measured resistively in fields up to 8T. A Lindemann criterion for vortex lattice melting is obtained in addition to a sharp hysteresis in the magnetoresistance at Bm supporting a first-order phase transition. The anisotropy of twin boundary pinning and its reduction of the 'kink' in ρvariant(T) associated with the first-order melting transition is discussed in samples with very dilute twin boundaries. We also report on the direct suppression of the melting transition by intrinsic pinning for H norm of matrix ab and by electron-irradiation-induced point defects. © 1994.