'Inverse' melting of a vortex lattice

Nurit Avraham (), Boris Khaykovich, Yuri Myasoedov, Michael Rappaport, Hadas Shtrikman, Dima E. Feldman, Tsuyoshi Tamegai, Peter H. Kes, Ming Li, Marcin Konczykowski, Kees van der Beek and Eli Zeldov
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Nurit Avraham: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Boris Khaykovich: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Yuri Myasoedov: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Michael Rappaport: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Hadas Shtrikman: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Dima E. Feldman: The Weizmann Institute of Science
Tsuyoshi Tamegai: The University of Tokyo
Peter H. Kes: Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO Box 9504
Ming Li: Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, PO Box 9504
Marcin Konczykowski: Laboratoire des Solides Irradies, CNRS, UMR 7642 and CEA/DSM/DRECAM, Ecole Polytechnique
Kees van der Beek: Laboratoire des Solides Irradies, CNRS, UMR 7642 and CEA/DSM/DRECAM, Ecole Polytechnique
Eli Zeldov: The Weizmann Institute of Science

Nature, 2001, vol. 411, issue 6836, 451-454

Abstract: Abstract Inverse melting is the process in which a crystal reversibly transforms into a liquid or amorphous phase when its temperature is decreased. Such a process is considered to be very rare1, and the search for it is often hampered by the formation of non-equilibrium states or intermediate phases2. Here we report the discovery of first-order inverse melting of the lattice formed by magnetic flux lines in a high-temperature superconductor. At low temperatures, disorder in the material pins the vortices, preventing the observation of their equilibrium properties and therefore the determination of whether a phase transition occurs. But by using a technique3 to ‘dither’ the vortices, we were able to equilibrate the lattice, which enabled us to obtain direct thermodynamic evidence of inverse melting of the ordered lattice into a disordered vortex phase as the temperature is decreased. The ordered lattice has larger entropy than the low-temperature disordered phase. The mechanism of the first-order phase transition changes gradually from thermally induced melting at high temperatures to a disorder-induced transition at low temperatures.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35078021

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