Abstract
Y-Ba-Cu-O crystals were irradiated with 5.3-GeV Pb ions. The induced columnar defects are either perpendicular or at 45°to the Cu-O planes. Magnetization curves confirm an anisotropic, unidirectional enhancement of the critical current Jc. However, a sharp crossover to isotropic enhancement is observed in the low-field limit. We interpret these results in terms of flux flop from a direction determined by the field to the direction of the defect. From this feature we determine the pinning energy of a flux line in a columnar defect.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 12349-12352 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1993 |