Lifetimes of superheated and supercooled phases in tin on transition from a normal to a superconducting state and vice versa
A method was developed for measuring the lifetimes of metastable phases appearing in the course of a transition from a normal metal to a type I superconductor. Three tin samples differing in respect of the structure and the cleanness of the surface finish were investigated. The metastable states (superheating or supercooling) were obtained by a rapid change of the magnetic field intensity at a given temperature. A frequency meter was used to determine the time from the moment of establishment of a field to the transition of a sample to a more stable state, which was deduced from the Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect. The experimental results indicated that the lifetime varied randomly from one experiment to another. There was some deviation from the exponential distribution law. Measurements were made of the average lifetime of superheated and supercooled phases as a function of the magnetic field intensity at temperatures 3.6, 3.2, and 2.8 /sup 0/K. The dependence on the magnetic field was nonmonotonic, there was a limit to superheating in a superconducting state corresponding to zero lifetime, but there was no such limit in the case of supercooling. The maximum superheating fields found from the Ginzburg-Landau theory were in good agreement with the experimental results. The theoretical values of the maximum supercooling fields were in the region of one of the minima of the investigated dependence.
- Research Organization:
- Division of Physicotechnical Problems in Energetics, Ural Scientific Center, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Sverdlovsk
- OSTI ID:
- 6063371
- Journal Information:
- Sov. Phys. - Solid State (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Vol. 24:12
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
TIN
PHASE STUDIES
TYPE-I SUPERCONDUCTORS
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LIFETIME
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MEASURING METHODS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
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ELEMENTS
HEATING
METALS
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360102* - Metals & Alloys- Structure & Phase Studies
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