Surface effects on the pancake vortex phase diagram
Abstract
We discuss the effects of a surface on the vortex system in a layered superconductor with vanishingly small Josephson coupling. Within a London theory, we derive the modified pancake vortex interaction in samples with a finite number of layers. We discuss the implications of these modifications for the zero-field transition and for the melting transition in finite fields formulated within a substrate model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 2698]. Close to the surface, the lattice becomes unstable below the bulk thermodynamic melting temperature. We analyze the resulting surface-induced melting using density functional theory.
- Publication:
-
Physica C Superconductivity
- Pub Date:
- May 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.physc.2003.11.052
- Bibcode:
- 2004PhyC..404..119D
- Keywords:
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- Pancake vortex system;
- Surface-induced melting;
- Density functional theory