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T Tamegai

Publications and source records attributed to T Tamegai.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Equilibrium first-order melting and second-order glass transitions of the vortex matter in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8.

The thermodynamic phase diagram of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 was mapped by measuring local equilibrium magnetization M(H,T) in the presence of vortex shaking. Two equally sharp first-order magnetization steps are revealed in a single temperature sweep, manifesting a liquid-solid-liquid sequence. In addition, a second-order glass transition line is revealed by a sharp break in the equilibrium M(T) slope. The first- and second-order lines intersect at intermediate temperatures, suggesting the existence of four phases: Bragg glass and vortex crystal at low fields, glass and liquid at higher fields.

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PubMed2005

Current oscillation and low-field colossal magnetoresistance effect in phase-separated manganites.

Current-induced switching from a metallic to an insulating state is observed in phase-separated states of (La(1-y)Pr(y))0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (y=0.7) and Nd(0.5)Ca(0.5)Mn(1-z)Cr(z)O3 (z=0.03) crystals. The application of magnetic fields to this current-induced insulating state causes a pronounced low-field negative magnetoresistance effect [rho(H)/rho(0)=10(-3) at H=1 kOe]. The application of a constant voltage also causes the breakdown of the Ohmic relation above a threshold voltage. At voltages higher than this threshold value, oscillations in currents are observed. This oscillation is well reproduced by a simple model of local switching of a percolative conduction path.

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PubMed2005

Tilt of pancake vortex stacks in layered superconductors in the crossing lattice regime.

We study crossing vortices in strongly anisotropic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta single crystals. Using scanning Hall probe microscopy and Bitter decoration techniques, we find an asymmetry of magnetic field profiles produced by pancake vortices (PVs), which are interacting with Josephson vortices (JVs), near the surface of the crystal. We attribute the observed asymmetry to a substantial tilt (14-18 degrees) of PV stacks, which is produced by the torque due to the surface currents and JVs. We calculate the tilt angle and obtain agreement with experimental data when the irreversible in-plane magnetization is included. A further refinement to the model is considered which accounts for a reduction in the PV stack line tension near the sample surface.

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PubMed2004

Vortex nanoliquid in high-temperature superconductors.

Using a differential magneto-optical technique to visualize the flow of transport currents, we reveal a new delocalization line within the reversible vortex liquid region in the presence of a low density of columnar defects. This line separates a homogeneous vortex liquid, in which all the vortices are delocalized, from a heterogeneous "nanoliquid" phase, in which interconnected nanodroplets of vortex liquid are caged in the pores of a solid skeleton formed by vortices pinned on columnar defects. The nanoliquid phase displays high correlation along the columnar defects but no transverse critical current.

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PubMed2004

Imaging of percolative conduction paths and their breakdown in phase-separated (La1-yPry)0.7Ca0.3MnO3 with y=0.7.

Local magnetization and current distribution in (La(1-y)Pr(y))0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (y=0.7) crystals are studied by a magneto-optical (MO) imaging technique. MO images below 120 K visualize inhomogeneous magnetization and conduction paths that manifest the percolative conduction originated from the mesoscopic phase separation into ferromagnetic metals and antiferromagnetic insulators. Application of large amounts of current switches the current distribution from inhomogeneous to homogeneous concomitantly with a steep increase in resistivity. These phenomena are discussed in view of current induced collapse of the phase separation through a local heating.

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PubMed2003

First-order phase transition from the vortex liquid to an amorphous solid.

We present a systematic study of the topology of the vortex solid phase in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 samples with low doses of columnar defects. A new state of vortex matter imposed by the presence of geometrical contours associated with the random distribution of columns is found. The results show that the first-order liquid-solid transition in this vortex matter does not require a structural symmetry change.

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PubMed2003

Melting of "porous" vortex matter.

Bitter decoration and magneto-optical studies reveal that in heavy-ion irradiated superconductors, a "porous" vortex matter is formed when vortices outnumber columnar defects. In this state ordered vortex crystallites are embedded in the "pores" of a rigid matrix of vortices pinned on columnar defects. The crystallites melt through a first-order transition while the matrix remains solid. The melting temperature increases with density of columnar defects and eventually turns into a continuous transition. At high temperatures a sharp kink in the melting line is found, signaling an abrupt change from crystallite melting to melting of the rigid matrix.

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PubMed2002

Visualization of interacting crossing vortex lattices in the presence of quenched disorder.

We have imaged interacting crossing pancake vortex (PV) and Josephson vortex (JV) lattices in highly anisotropic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta) single crystals under tilted magnetic fields. The dependence of vortex structures on in-plane field is in good quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions, yielding an almost temperature-independent anisotropy parameter of gamma=640+/-25. We directly confirm that the PV/JV attraction arises from small PV displacements in the presence of JV supercurrents and demonstrate how the existence of quenched disorder leads to indirect JV pinning and dynamic vortex fragmentation.

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PubMed2001

A one-dimensional chain state of vortex matter.

Magnetic flux penetrates isotropic type II superconductors in flux-quantized vortices, which arrange themselves into a lattice structure that is independent of the direction of the applied field. In extremely anisotropic high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors, a lattice of stacks of circular 'pancake' vortices forms when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the copper oxide layers, while an orthogonal elongated lattice of elliptical Josephson vortices forms when the applied field is parallel to the layers. Here we report that when a tilted magnetic field is applied to single crystals of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta, these lattices can interact to form a new state of vortex matter in which all stacks of pancake vortices intersect the Josephson vortices. The sublattice of Josephson vortices can therefore be used to manipulate the sublattice of pancake vortices. This result explains the suppression of irreversible magnetization by in-plane fields as seen in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta crystals, a hitherto mysterious observation. The ability to manipulate sublattices could be important for flux-logic devices, where a 'bit' might be represented by a pancake vortex stack, and the problem of vortex positioning is overcome through sublattice interactions. This also enables the development of flux transducers and amplifiers, considerably broadening the scope for applications of anisotropic high-Tc superconductors.

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PubMed2001

Temperature variations of the disorder-induced vortex-lattice-melting landscape.

Differential magneto-optical imaging of the vortex-lattice-melting process in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8) crystals reveals unexpected effects of quenched disorder on the broadening of the first-order phase transition. The melting patterns show that the disorder-induced melting landscape T(m)(H,r) is not fixed, but rather changes dramatically with varying field and temperature along the melting line. The changes in both the scale and shape of the landscape are found to result from the competing contributions of different types of quenched disorder which have opposite effects on the local melting transition.

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PubMed2001

Asymmetric field profile in Bose glass phase of irradiated YBa2Cu3O(7-delta): loss of interlayer coherence around 1/3 of matching field.

Magneto-optical imaging in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) with tilted columnar defects (CD's) shows an asymmetric critical-state field profile. The observed hysteretic shift of the profile ridge (trough) from the center of the sample is explained by in-plane magnetization originating from vortex alignment along CD's. The extracted ratio of the in-plane to out-of-plane magnetization component has a maximum at 1/5 of matching field ( B(Phi)) and disappears above B(Phi)/3, suggesting a reduction of interlayer coherence well below B(Phi) in the Bose glass phase. Implications are discussed in comparison with the vortex liquid recoupling observed in irradiated Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+y).

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PubMed2001

'Inverse' melting of a vortex lattice.

Inverse melting is the process in which a crystal reversibly transforms into a liquid or amorphous phase when its temperature is decreased. Such a process is considered to be very rare, and the search for it is often hampered by the formation of non-equilibrium states or intermediate phases. Here we report the discovery of first-order inverse melting of the lattice formed by magnetic flux lines in a high-temperature superconductor. At low temperatures, disorder in the material pins the vortices, preventing the observation of their equilibrium properties and therefore the determination of whether a phase transition occurs. But by using a technique to 'dither' the vortices, we were able to equilibrate the lattice, which enabled us to obtain direct thermodynamic evidence of inverse melting of the ordered lattice into a disordered vortex phase as the temperature is decreased. The ordered lattice has larger entropy than the low-temperature disordered phase. The mechanism of the first-order phase transition changes gradually from thermally induced melting at high temperatures to a disorder-induced transition at low temperatures.

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PubMed2001

New vortex-matter size effect observed in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8 + delta).

The vortex-matter 3D to 2D phase transition is studied in micron-sized Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8 + delta) single crystals using local Hall magnetization measurements. At a given temperature, the second magnetization peak, the signature of a possible 3D--2D vortex phase transition, disappears for samples smaller than a critical length. We suggest that this critical length should be equated with the 2D vortex lattice ab-plane correlation length R(2D)(c). The magnitude and temperature dependence of R(2D)(c) agree well with Larkin-Ovchinnikov collective pinning theory.

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PubMed2001

Evidence for surface Andreev bound states in cuprate superconductors from penetration depth measurements.

Tunneling and theoretical studies have suggested that Andreev bound states form at certain surfaces of unconventional superconductors. Through studies of the temperature and field dependence of the in-plane magnetic penetration depth lambda(ab) at low temperature, we have found strong evidence for the presence of these states in clean single crystal YBCO and BSCCO. Crystals cut to expose (110) surfaces show a strong upturn in lambda(ab) at around 7 K, when the field is oriented along the c axis. In YBCO this upturn is completely suppressed by a field of approximately 0.1 T.

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PubMed2000

Imaging the vortex-lattice melting process in the presence of disorder

General arguments suggest that first-order phase transitions become less sharp in the presence of weak disorder, while extensive disorder can transform them into second-order transitions; but the atomic level details of this process are not clear. The vortex lattice in superconductors provides a unique system in which to study the first-order transition on an inter-particle scale, as well as over a wide range of particle densities. Here we use a differential magneto-optical technique to obtain direct experimental visualization of the melting process in a disordered superconductor. The images reveal complex behaviour in nucleation, pattern formation, and solid-liquid interface coarsening and pinning. Although the local melting is found to be first-order, a global rounding of the transition is observed; this results from a disorder-induced broad distribution of local melting temperatures, at scales down to the mesoscopic level. We also resolve local hysteretic supercooling of microscopic liquid domains, a non-equilibrium process that occurs only at selected sites where the disorder-modified melting temperature has a local maximum. By revealing the nucleation process, we are able to experimentally evaluate the solid-liquid surface tension, which we find to be extremely small.

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PubMed2000

Transient vortex states in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta) crystals

A high temporal resolution magneto-optical system is employed to observe the time evolution of the vortex structure in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) crystals after a sudden application of a magnetic field. The magneto-optical images reveal dynamic coexistence of two vortex phases: a quasiordered phase in the sample interior and a transient disordered phase near the sample edges. The border between these two phases, marked by an abrupt change in the gradient of the local induction, moves with time. This motion enables tracing the decay of the transient state and the concurrent growth of the thermodynamic vortex phases. The growth rate is sensitive to the location in the field-temperature phase diagram.

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