Intrinsic bulk vortex dynamics revealed by time resolved small angle neutron scattering

Abstract

Measurements of intrinsic vortex lattice (VL) dynamics in superconductors as for instance VL melting or Bragg glass transitions are typically performed by e.g. macroscopic transport or surface sensitive measurement techniques. Therefore, usually thin superconducting films are used for microscopic measurements of VL dynamics. A direct consequence of using thin films is the strong influence of surface effects and defects, sample quality and geometry. We succeeded to combine time resolved stroboscopic small angle neutron scattering (SANS) with an advanced, time varying magnetic field setup allowing to extend the time window for slow dynamical processes to the range of 10 ms up to several minutes. The new results demonstrate that it is possible to observe directly the intrinsic dynamics of the VL in a bulk niobium single crystal on a microscopic scale without limitations due to surface effects. Field and temperature dependent relaxation times of the VL from 100 to 500 ms could be observed for the first time, allowing to directly measure the VL of the tilt modulus. This new experimental technique provides the possibility to study also the dynamical magnetic properties of various strongly correlated electron systems.