TY  - JOUR
AU  - Reimann, T.
AU  - Mühlbauer, S.
AU  - Schulz, M.
AU  - Betz, B.
AU  - Kaestner, A.
AU  - Pipich, V.
AU  - Böni, P.
AU  - Grünzweig, C.
TI  - Visualizing the morphology of vortex lattice domains in a bulk type-II superconductor
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 6
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - London
PB  - Nature Publishing Group
M1  - FZJ-2015-07010
SP  - 8813 -
PY  - 2015
AB  - Alike materials in the solid state, the phase diagram of type-II superconductors exhibit crystalline, amorphous, liquid and spatially inhomogeneous phases. The multitude of different phases of vortex matter has thence proven to act as almost ideal model system for the study of both the underlying properties of superconductivity but also of general phenomena such as domain nucleation and morphology. Here we show how neutron grating interferometry yields detailed information on the vortex lattice and its domain structure in the intermediate mixed state of a type-II niobium superconductor. In particular, we identify the nucleation regions, how the intermediate mixed state expands, and where it finally evolves into the Shubnikov phase. Moreover, we complement the results obtained from neutron grating interferometry by small-angle neutron scattering that confirm the spatially resolved morphology found in the intermediate mixed state, and very small-angle neutron scattering that confirm the domain structure of the vortex lattice.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000366301800001
C6  - pmid:26522610
DO  - DOI:10.1038/ncomms9813
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/278743
ER  -