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Observation of a hexatic vortex glass in flux lattices of the high- T sub c superconductor Bi sub 2. 1 Sr sub 1. 9 Ca sub 0. 9 Cu sub 2 O sub 8+. delta

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters; (USA)
; ;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. AT T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 (USA)
  2. Stanford University, Stanford, CA (USA)
We report observation of hexatic order in Abrikosov flux lattices in very clean crystals of the high-{ital T}{sub {ital c}} superconductor Bi{sub 2.1}Sr{sub 1.9}Ca{sub 0.9}Cu{sub 2}O{sub 8+{delta}}. Our experiments consist of {ital in} {ital situ} magnetic decoration of the flux lattice at 4.2 K. Analysis of the decoration images shows that the positional order decays exponentially with a correlation length of a few lattice constants while the orientational order persists for hundreds of lattice constants and decays algebraically with an exponent {eta}{sub 6}=0.06{plus minus}0.01. Our results confirm recent theoretical speculation that the positional order should be far more sensitive to disorder than the orientational order and that the low-temperature ordered phase of the flux lines in these systems might be a hexatic glass.
OSTI ID:
6818005
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters; (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review Letters; (USA) Vol. 64:19; ISSN PRLTA; ISSN 0031-9007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English