Vortex dynamics in 2H-NbSe2 containing a periodic channel structure

Abstract

We have measured the resistivity and magnetic AC susceptibility of 2H-NbSe2 single crystals containing alternating stripes of irradiated and non-irradiated regions of columnar defects created by heavy-ion bombardment. Without applied magnetic field, the sample undergoes a double-step transition into the superconducting state, each step corresponding to the transitions in the irradiated and non-irradiated regions, respectively. For fields smaller than half of the matching field and upon increasing the temperature, the onset of flux motion in the non-irradiated channels occurs, when the applied stress due to the electrical current equals the shear stress at the channel edges, while depinning in the irradiated stripes occurs at higher temperature. The weak amplitude dependence of the shear process suggests that it takes place at the melting transition. We observed only a single-step transition at DC magnetic fields larger than half the matching field, because pinning by the columnar defects in the irradiated stripes is much less effective, and consequently the shear stress at the channel edges is strongly reduced. The comparison between the shear stress deduced from I–V curves and the theoretical value τmax=AC66 yields a value for the constant A, which is in good agreement with theoretical predictions.