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Surface melting of the vortex lattice

A. De Col·G. I. Menon·V. B. Geshkenbein·G. Blatter
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Abstract

We discuss the effect of an (ab)-surface on the melting transition of the pancake-vortex lattice in a layered superconductor within a density functional theory approach. Both discontinuous and continuous surface melting are predicted for this system, although the latter scenario occupies the major part of the low-field phase diagram. The formation of a quasi-liquid layer below the bulk melting temperature inhibits the appearance of a superheated solid phase, yielding an asymmetric hysteretic behavior which has been seen in experiments.

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A. De Col, G. I. Menon, V. B. Geshkenbein, G. Blatter. 2005-11-02. Surface melting of the vortex lattice. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.96.177001

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