title: Smectic vortex phase in optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7 thin films.
abstract: Angular dependent resistivity measurements of optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7 films in fields H pulsed to 50 T are presented. Up to the highest H, the vortex melting field Hm increases and vortex motion is reduced for H aligned with the correlated pinning centers along the main crystalline axes, otherwise 3D anisotropic scaling describes the vortex dynamics. For H parallel ab, the rapid increase in Hm at low temperatures and a critical exponent analysis near Hm confirm the presence of the liquid-crystalline smectic phase predicted for layered superconductors.
authors.affiliation: Superconductivity Technology Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA. sbaily@lanl.gov
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Baily
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maiorov
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Balakirev
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaime
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Foltyn
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Civale