The temperature dependence of the 1 st and 3 rd harmonics ( χ negative values in a temperature region just above T p ( χ 1 " ), both dominated by the creep regime; the zone 3, just below T c , in which we revealed the presence of Thermally Assisted Flux Flow 2 (TAFF). By the identification of these "zones", an estimation of the value of the pinning potential can be obtained.
Fundamental and higher harmonics of the ac magnetic susceptibility have been measured on LaFeAsO 0.92 F 0.08 samples as a function of the temperature, at various amplitudes and frequencies of the ac magnetic field, with a small superimposed dc field parallel to the ac field. The granularity of the samples has been investigated and the intergrain and intragrain contributions have been clearly individuated looking at both the first and the third harmonics. The vortex dynamics has been also analyzed, and a comparison with the magnetic behavior of both the MgB 2 and the cuprate superconductors has been performed. Some vortex dissipative phenomena, i.e., the thermally activated flux flow and the flux creep, have been detected in the presented experimental data, similar to what have been obtained on YBCO. Nevertheless, although the general behavior is similar, several differences have been also evidenced between these different classes of superconductors, mainly in the third harmonics. We infer that different vortex dynamics has to be included into the analysis of the magnetic response in this iron-based material.
The measurements of the 1 st and the 3 rd harmonics of the AC magnetic susceptibility,
We measured the temperature dependence of the 1st and the 3rd harmonics of the AC magnetic susceptibility on some type II superconducting samples at different AC field amplitudes, h AC . In order to interpret the measurements, we computed the harmonics of the AC susceptibility as function of the temperature T, by integrating the non-linear diffusion equation for the magnetic field with different creep models, namely the vortex glass-collective creep (single-vortex, small bundle and large bundle) and Kim-Anderson model. We also computed them by using a non-linear phenomenological I-V characteristics, including a power law dependence of the pinning potential on h AC . Our experimental results were compared with the numerically computed ones, by the analysis of the Cole-Cole plots. This method results more sensitive than the separate component analysis, giving the possibility to obtain detailed information about the contribution of the flux dynamic regimes in the magnetic response of the analysed samples.
We report additional experimental evidences about the presence of an universal behavior in the Field-Temperature Phase Diagram of Type II Superconductors. This behavior is characterized by a phase transition in the vortex matter between the disordered and the Bragg Glass phase. The experimental detection of a Peak Effect phenomenon has been proved to be strictly connected to the existence of this phase transition. In this paper, we show the first observation of a Peak Effect in the compound Nb 3 Sn, by using 1 st harmonics of the AC magnetic susceptibility. Peak Effect has been detected at fields between 3T and 13T, whereas it is not observable at higher fields. This seems to be in contrast with the theoretical predictions of such a phase transition at all fields and, therefore, with the predicted universality in the magnetic behavior of the Type II superconductors. Nevertheless, by measuring the 3 rd harmonics of the AC susceptibility, this phase transition has been detected up to our highest available field (19 T), thus demonstrating the necessity of the higher harmonics analysis in studying these topics and moreover proving the validity of the theoretical predictions. Magnetic flux penetrates a type II superconductor in form of vortices, which distribute in a regular lattice in absence of defects [1,2]. Defects affect the lattice ordering, but prevent the dissipations associated to the vortex movement [2]. An universal field-temperature phase diagram has been supposed for all the type II superconductors with point defects. In this phase diagram a transition in the vortex lattice has been predicted, between a disordered phase and the Bragg Glass Phase [3,4]. This latter is characterized by a quasi long range order and a perfect topological order, in which the vortex lattice stills survives despite the presence of the pinning [3], as it has also been experimentally evidenced [5]. The disordered phase has been supposed to be again a glass phase ("multidomain glass"), but with a topological disorder at the largest length scales [4]. The critical current density, J c [6], generally decreasing with increasing temperature and/or magnetic field [2], shows a local maximum, known as Peak Effect [7], when the Disordered/Bragg Phase transition occurs. For this reason, the observation of the Peak Effect has been widely used to detect this phase transition [3]. The Peak Effect has been evidenced in various classes of type II superconductors, e.g. low-T c [8][9][10][11][12], high-T c [13][14][15], boro-carbides [16] and MgB 2 [17]; however, it has not been observed in Nb 3 Sn up to the present day, to the best of our knowledge. Nb 3 Sn crystallizes in the A15 type structure and is actually the most used material in the manufacturing of superconducting magnets at very high fields [18]. In the present work, measurements have been performed on a high quality Nb 3 Sn single crystal, furnished by M. Toyota [19] (Dimensions ≈ 3 x 1.32 x 0.43 mm 3 ). The sample was characterized by T c = 18.2 K, ΔT c = 0.1 K, T m = 38.84 K. A valu...
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