print logo

Flux penetration into a current-carrying YBaCuO film

Magneto-optical images show the flux distribution around a thin YBaCuO strip with transport current, as it increases from zero to 5.7 A. The flux penetrates deeper and deeper into the sample and the Meissner region in the center (the dark area) shrinks. The field always has maxima at the strip edges.

T = 15 K;
YBaCuO strip dimensions: 100x500 microns, thickness 200 nm;
the film is prepared by magnetron sputtering.
Average current density corresponding to the maximal current is 3*107 A/cm2, the magnetic field at the edges reaches 300 G.

Published in
Phys. Rev. B 59, 9655-9664 (1999)
Abstract, PDF.

The current flows in vertical direction and the field has opposite signs in the left and right parts of the strip.