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Title: Scaling of thin-film Nd{sub 1.85}Ce{sub 0.15}CuO{sub 4{minus}{ital y}} resistivity-current isotherms at low fields: Implications for vortex phase transitions and universality

Journal Article · · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Department of Physics, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-6507 (United States)
  2. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)
  3. Center for Superconductivity Research, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)

We have investigated a second-order phase transition of the vortex lattice in thin-film Nd{sub 1.85}Ce{sub 0.15}CuO{sub 4{minus}{ital y}} from 1 mT to 1 T applied magnetic fields. The dc resistivity-current density data for each field exhibit critical scaling consistent with a second-order vortex-liquid to vortex-solid phase transition. The high-field data support the vortex-glass model and have the same critical exponents as thin-film YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{delta}}. At low fields we observe a change in the critical exponents and universal functions. The critical regime diminishes as the field is decreased but remains nonzero even at 1 mT. These results suggest that the universality class of the transition changes at low fields.

OSTI ID:
54931
Journal Information:
Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 51, Issue 21; Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English