We observed mode-locking (ML) of rf-dc driven vortex arrays in a superconducting weak pinning a-NbGe film. The ML voltage shows the expected scaling $Vpropto fsqrt{B}$ with $f$ the rf-frequency and $B$ the magnetic field. For large dc-velocity (corresponding to a large ML frequency), the ML current step width exhibits a squared Bessel function dependence on the rf-amplitude as predicted for ML of a lattice moving elastically through a random potential.
The flow properties of confined vortex matter driven through disordered mesoscopic channels are investigated by mode locking (ML) experiments. The observed ML effects allow to trace the evolution of both the structure and the number of confined rows and their match to the channel width as function of magnetic field. From a detailed analysis of the ML behavior for the case of 3-rows we obtain ({it i}) the pinning frequency $f_p$, ({it ii}) the onset frequency $f_c$ for ML ($propto$ ordering velocity) and ({it iii}) the fraction $L_{ML}/L$ of coherently moving 3-row regions in the channel. The field dependence of these quantities shows that, at matching, where $L_{ML}$ is maximum, the pinning strength is small and the ordering velocity is low, while at mismatch, where $L_{ML}$ is small, both the pinning force and the ordering velocity are enhanced. Further, we find that $f_c propto f_p^2$, consistent with the dynamic ordering theory of Koshelev and Vinokur. The microscopic nature of the flow and the ordering phenomena will also be discussed.
We have studied the flow properties of vortices driven through easy flow mesoscopic channels by means of the mode locking (ML) technique. We observe a ML jump with large voltage broadening in the real part of the rf-impedance. Upon approaching the pure dc flow by reducing the rf amplitude, the ML jump is smeared out via a divergence of the voltage width. This indicates a large spread in internal frequencies and lack of temporal coherence in the dc-driven state.
The orientation and deformation of moving vortex lattices in the flux-flow state have been investigated in amorphous superconducting NbGe thin films. Employing a mode-locking technique, we detect how moving lattices deform and their orientation changes as a magnetic field is tilted from normal to the film surface. For high tilt angles the lattice orientation is aligned parallely with the tilt direction. Meanwhile for low tilt angles the lattice orientation depends on the vortex velocity and a velocity-induced reorientation occurs. The characteristic velocity for the reorientation varies remarkably as the moving lattices deform. The observed features are consistent with an extended bond-fluctuation theory, revealing that the anisotropic shaking vortex motion is essential for determining the orientation of moving vortex lattices.
We study the dynamics of current-biased Josephson-junction arrays with a magnetic penetration depth smaller than the lattice spacing. We compare the dynamics imaged by low-temperature scanning electron microscopy to the vortex dynamics obtained from model calculations based on the resistively-shunted junction model, in combination with Maxwells equations. We find three bias current regions with fundamentally different array dynamics. The first region is the subcritical region, i.e. below the array critical current I_c. The second, for currents I above I_c, is a vortex region, in which the response is determined by the vortex degrees of freedom. In this region, the dynamics is characterized by spatial domains where vortices and antivortices move across the array in opposite directions in adjacent rows and by transverse voltage fluctuations. In the third, for still higher currents, the dynamics is dominated by coherent-phase motion, and the current-voltage characteristics are linear.
We report an experimental and theoretical investigation of the electron-boson interaction in KFe2As2 by point-contact (PC) spectroscopy, model, and ab-initio LDA-based calculations for the standard electron-phonon Eliashberg function. The PC spectrum viz. the second derivative of the I - V characteristic of representative PC exhibits a pronounced maximum at about 20meV and surprisingly a featureless behavior at lower and higher energies. We discuss phonon and non-phonon (excitonic) mechanisms for the origin of this peak. Analysis of the underlying source of this peak may be important for the understanding of serious puzzles of superconductivity in this type of compounds.