Flux Line Lattice Melting Transition in YBa ₂ Cu ₃ O _6.94 Observed in Specific Heat Experiments

Abstract

When a magnetic field penetrates a type II superconductor, it forms a lattice of thin quantized filaments called magnetic vortices. Resistance, magnetization, and neutron diffraction experiments have shown that the vortex lattice of high-temperature superconductors can melt along a line in the field-temperature plane. The calorimetric signature of melting on this line was observed in a high-accuracy adiabatic specific heat experiment performed on YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.94 . The specific heat of the vortex liquid was greater than that of the vortex solid.