TY  - JOUR
AU  - Backs, A.
AU  - Schulz, M.
AU  - Pipich, V.
AU  - Kleinhans, M.
AU  - Böni, P.
TI  - Universal behavior of the intermediate mixed state domain formation in superconducting niobium
JO  - Physical review / B
VL  - 100
IS  - 6
SN  - 2469-9950
CY  - Woodbury, NY
PB  - Inst.
M1  - FZJ-2019-05195
SP  - 064503
PY  - 2019
AB  - In the intermediate mixed state (IMS) of type-II/1 superconductors, vortex lattice (VL) and Meissner state domains coexist due to a partially attractive vortex interaction. Using a neutron-based multiscale approach combined with magnetization measurements, we study the continuous decomposition of a homogeneous VL into increasingly dense domains in the IMS in bulk niobium samples of varying purity. We find a universal temperature dependence of the vortex spacing, closely related to the London penetration depth and independent of the external magnetic field. The rearrangement of vortices occurs even in the presence of a flux freezing transition, i.e., pronounced pinning, indicating a breakdown of pinning at the onset of the vortex attraction.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000478991900006
DO  - DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.100.064503
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/865918
ER  -