Pinning and vortex lattice structure in NbTi alloy multilayers

Abstract

We made thin film multilayers of Nb/sub 0.37/Ti/sub 0.63//Nb and Nb/sub 0.37/Ti/sub 0.63//Ti (d/sub NiTi/=14-27 nm and d/sub N/=4-11 nm) to examine geometries and materials relevant to flux pinning in commercial NbTi conductors. Samples were characterized by transport measurements between 4.2 K and T/sub c/, in magnetic fields nearly parallel to the layers, up to 6 T. For some multilayers, pinning forces had a large peak at intermediate fields whose onset occurred near /spl sim/0.2 H/sub c2/. We suggest this peak effect is caused by a change in the vortex lattice structure, driven by the strong intrinsic pinning. We have measured the highest pinning force density (113 GN/m/sup 3/ at 4.2K and 5 T) ever achieved in the NbTi system.