Melting of the nanocrystalline vortex matter in highly anisotropic high-temperature superconductors.
Multilevel Monte Carlo simulations of the vortex matter in the highly anisotropic high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 were performed. We introduced low concentration of columnar defects satisfying Bphi < or = B. Both the electromagnetic and Josephson interactions among pancake vortices were included. The nanocrystalline, nanoliquid, and homogeneous liquid phases were identified in agreement with experiments. We observed the two-step melting process and also noted an enhancement of the structure factor just prior to the melting transition. A proposed theoretical model is in agreement with our findings.
Goldschmidt
Yadin Y
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Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
Cuansing
Eduardo
E