Universal behavior of the intermediate mixed state domain formation in superconducting niobium Article Swipe

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Condensed matter physics Vortex Superconductivity Niobium Type-II superconductor Pinning force Meissner effect Flux pinning Magnetization Homogeneous Lattice (music) Penetration depth Materials science Physics Magnetic field High-temperature superconductivity Critical current Thermodynamics Quantum mechanics Metallurgy Acoustics

Alexander Backs , Michael Schulz , Vitaliy Pipich , M. Kleinhans , P. Böni , S. Mühlbauer ·

YOU? · · 2019 · Open Access · · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.100.064503 · OA: W2944907009

In the intermediate mixed state (IMS) of type-II/1 superconductors, vortex lattice (VL) and Meissner state domains coexist due to a partially attractive vortex interaction. Using a neutron-based multiscale approach combined with magnetization measurements, we study the continuous decomposition of a homogeneous VL into increasingly dense domains in the IMS in bulk niobium samples of varying purity. We find a universal temperature dependence of the vortex spacing, closely related to the London penetration depth and independent of the external magnetic field. The rearrangement of vortices occurs even in the presence of a flux freezing transition, i.e. pronounced pinning, indicating a breakdown of pinning at the onset of the vortex attraction.