Origin of the plateau in the temperature dependence of the normalized magnetization relaxation rate in disordered high-temperature superconductors

Abstract

The temperature $T$ dependence of the normalized magnetization relaxation rate $S$ in optimally doped ${\text{YBa}}_{2}{\text{Cu}}_{3}{\text{O}}_{7\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\delta}}$ films with the external dc magnetic field $H$ oriented along the $c$ axis exhibits the well-known plateau in the intermediate $T$ range, associated with the presence of elastic (collective) vortex creep. The disappearance of the $S(T)$ plateau in the high-$H$ domain $(H\ensuremath{\ge}20\text{ }\text{kOe})$ is not completely understood. We show that in the case of high-temperature superconductors with significant quenched disorder the $S(T)$ plateau is directly related to a crossover in the vortex-creep process generated by the macroscopic currents induced in the sample. In dc magnetization measurements the creep-crossover temperature decreases rapidly with increasing $H$, reaching the low-$T$ region where the magnetization decay is dominated by micro flux jumps. Consequently, at high $H$ no well-defined elastic-creep domain is present and the $S(T)$ plateau disappears.