Vortices and Nanostructured Superconductors

Description

This book provides expert coverage of modern and novel aspects of the study of vortex matter, dynamics, and pinning in nanostructured and multi-component superconductors. Vortex matter in superconducting materials is a field of enormous beauty and intellectual challenge, which began with the theoretical prediction of vortices by A. Abrikosov (Nobel Laureate). Vortices, vortex dynamics, and pinning are key features in many of today’s human endeavors: from the huge superconducting accelerating magnets and detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which opened new windows of knowledge on the universe, to the tiny superconducting transceivers using Rapid Single Flux Quanta, which have opened a revolutionary means of communication. In recent years, two new features have added to the intrinsic beauty and complexity of the subject: nanostructured/nanoengineered superconductors, and the discovery of a range of new materials showing multi-component (multi-gap) superconductivity. In this book, leading researchers survey the most exciting and important recent developments in the field. Topics covered include: the use of scanning Hall probe microscopy to visualize interactions of a single vortex with pinning centers; Magneto-Optical Imaging for investigating what vortex avalanches are, why they appear, and how they can be controlled; and the vortex interactions responsible for the second magnetization peak. Other chapters discuss nanoengineered pinning centers of vortices for improved current-carrying capabilities, current anisotropy in cryomagnetic devices in relation to the pinning landscape, and the new physics associated with the discovery of new superconducting materials with multi-component superconductivity. The book offers something for almost everybody interested in the field: from experimental techniques to visualize vortices and study their dynamics, to a state-of-the-art theoretical microscopic approach to multicomponent superconductivity. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Vortex Deformation Close to a Pinning Center ....Pages 1-13 Pinning-Engineered YBa2Cu3Ox Thin Films....Pages 15-63 Chemically and Mechanically Engineered Flux Pinning for Enhanced Electromagnetic Properties of MgB2 ....Pages 65-108 Critical Current Anisotropy in Relation to the Pinning Landscape....Pages 109-131 Vortex Avalanches in Superconductors Visualized by Magneto-Optical Imaging....Pages 133-157 Behavior of the Second Magnetization Peak in Self-nanostructured La2–x Sr x CuO4 Single Crystals....Pages 159-184 Emergence of an Interband Phase Difference and Its Consequences in Multiband Superconductors....Pages 185-218 Fluctuation Modes in Multi-gap Superconductors ....Pages 219-253 Back Matter....Pages 255-259