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J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.

2 (2), 84-90 (2012)

A Theoretical Evaluation of Magnetic Field Dependence of


Vortex Core Size and Coherence Length of V3Si, NbSe2
and LuNi2B2C Superconductors
S. N. PANDEY and L. K. MISHRA*
Department of Physics,
Magadh University, Bodh-Gaya 824234, Bihar, India.
(Received on : December 5, 2011)
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we have theoretically determined the vortex core
size by taking Ginzburg-Landau parameter =1 for
superconductor V3Si, NbSe2 and LuNi2B2C. We have used
Eilenberger equations in our calculation. We have shown that
vortex core size r0 and coherence length

ab exhibit magnetic field

dependence. The maximum value of the cut off parameter


measured by

SR corresponds

ab

to the GL coherence length

calculated from HC2. At low fields, where the vortices are weakly
interacting, the fitted value of ab agrees with expected from HC2.

SR , Tupe-II
Eilenberger equation, GL Parameter .
Keywords : Vortex Core,

INTRODUCTION
Muon spin rotation (SR) is an
experimental technique primarily used to
measure local magnetic fields inside
samples. The discovery of high transition
temperature (high- Tc) superconductivity in
1986 brought about a rapid world-wide
expansion in the use and application of SR.

Superconductor,

Since the SR has been routinely applied


to investigations of these and other newly
discovered type-II superconductors. The
technique allows for studies in zero external
magnetic field, which combined with its
sensitivity as a local probe has provided
distinctive information on the occurrence of
internal magnetism as a coexisting or
competing these, or as a consequence of

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

85

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)

time SR reversal symmetry breaking


superconductivity. From zero field SR
studies of cuprates, a generic temperature
versus doping phase diagram has been
constructed, showing the coexistence of high
Tc superconductivity with static magnetism
in highly doped samples. Today there is still
much debate on the origin of this magnetism
and its importance to the high-Tc problems.
The vortex state provides another
avenue for investigation of type-II
superconductors with SR.1 For many years
such studies focused solely on obtaining
experimental information to the magnetic
penetration depth (), through measurements
of the muon spin depolarization rate
()resulting from the broad internal
magnetic field distribution n(B) of the fluxline lattice (FLL). The temperature and
magnetic field dependences of , which in
many systems can also be determined in the
Meissner phase by other techniques, reflect
the pairing state symmetry of the
superconducting carriers. With further
advances of the SR method came the
ability to focus attention on the properties of
the vortex cores themselves.
The first-ever study to account for
the finite size of the vortex cores in the
analysis of SR data was an investigation of
n(B) in pure Nb single crystal2. The
measured field distributions were shown to
be consistent with numerical solutions of the
macroscopic BCS-Gorkov theory. Some
years later, the magnetic field dependence of
the vector core size was determined from
SR measurements on single crystal NdSe2.3
The results confirmed earlier scanning
tunneling spectroscopy (STS) measurements
on NdSe2 that showed a shrinking of the
vortex cores with increasing magnetic field.4

This behavior could be attributed to an


increased overlap of the quasi-particle states
around a vortex core with those coming
from neighboring vortices. However, these
SR studies were more than just another
means of accessing information obtainable
by another experimental technique. Instead
they marked the development of a more
powerful method for investigating some of
the intrinsic properties of vortex cores in
type-II superconductors.
This STS technique, which is
sensitive to the electronic structure of the
vortex cores, is permitted to probing
individual vortices near the sample surface.
Near the surface the vortices spread out5,6
and their properties are strongly influenced
by surface inhomogeneities and/or defects.
Today, one can study vortices immediately
above or below the surface by SR using
low-energy (several keV) positively charged
muons (*)6,7 or by detected NMR using
low-energy radioactive ions.8 In contrast, the
experiments of2,3 used energetic (~3 meV) is
that stop at interstitial or bond sites in the
bulk of the sample where they directly probe
the local magnetic field. The term bulk
means that the stopping range of these faster
muons is approximately 150 mg cm-2 which
requires samples ~ 1 mm thick. In further
contrast to the STS method SR studies
yield average information on the vortex
cores, using ~107+ to randomly probe the
~109 vortices in a typical size sample.
Since the expweiments3 of, strong
field and temperature dependences of the
vortex core size have been found by SR in
a variety of superconductors. Through
comparison of the results with theoretical
models and experiments that are directly
sensitive to quasi-particles properties, a good

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)
understanding of many of the SR
experiments has been achieved. In d-wave
superconductors, it is now well established
that the vortex core size depends on both the
thermal occupancy of the bound quasiparticle core states and the overlap of the
corresponding quasi-particle wave functions
with those of nearest-neighbor vortices.
However, in exotic systems such as high-Tc
superconductors, where localized core states
may be absent, there is currently insufficient
experimental information to make similar
definitive statements. On the other hand,
recent SR studies of the vortex cores in
under doped high-Tc superconductors have
shed new light on the ground state that
emerges
when
superconductivity
is
suppressed. Combining information obtained
from SR experiments in zero and non-zero
magnetic fields, the latest resultssupport
a
picture of closely competing superconducting
and magnetic ground states.
Muon SPIN ROTATION (SR):
The primary use and strength of
SR
is its unmatched sensitivity to
internal magnetism. Central to the SR
method is the use of nearly 100% spinpolarized muon beam, naturally generated
from the weak interaction decay of pions.
This is a great advantage over conventional
NMR, which relies on thermal equilibrium
nuclear spin polarization in a large magnetic
field. Zero fields (ZF) SR is routinely used
to study small internal magnetic fields of
natural origin. In contrast to neutron
scattering, the information provided by SR
is integrated over reciprocal pace, which
makes it ideal for studies of short-range
magnetic
correlations
or
disordered
magnetism. The magnetic moment of the

86

muon is 3.18 times larger than that of


proton, making it ever more sensitive to
magnetism than NMR. Although generally a
nuisance in experiments, SR even detects
the dipolar fields of nuclear moments. In
fact, magnetic field is small as ~0.1G are
detectable-although it is important to
emphasize that is refers to the local field at
the muon stopping site.
TRANSVERSE FIELD SR:
The
internal
magnetic
field
distribution n(B) of a type-II superconductor
in the vortex state is measured by the socalled transverse-field muon spin rotation
(TF- SR) method. The external magnetic
field H is applied transverse to the direction
of the initial muon spin polarization Px(0),
which defines the x-axis. In high-Tc
superconductors, the positive (+) forms an
~1 bond with an oxygen atom,9,10 but in
general the muon will stop at an interstitial
site in the sample. There the muon spin
processes about the local magnetic field B(r)
in a plane perpendicular to the local field
axis. The muon subsequently decays,
emitting a fast position. The angular
dependence of the decay probability of the
muon is given by
W(E,)=1 + a(E)cos()

(1)

Where E is the kinetic energy of the decay


position,
is the angle between the
directions of the muon spin and the emitted
position and a(E) is an asymmetry factor.
When all positron energies are sampled with
equal probability, the asymmetry factors has
the value a = 1/3. The statistical average
direction of the muon spin polarization is
obtained by measuring the amasotropic

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

87

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)

angular distribution of decay positrons from


an ensemble if implanted muons.
The SR signal obtained by the
detection of the decay positrons is given by
A(t)=a0Px(t)

(2)

Where A(t) is the SR asymmetry


spectrum, a0 is the asymmetry maximum,
and px(t) is the time evolution of the muon
spin polarization

B (r ) = B0 (1 b 4 )

Px (t ) = n( B ) cos( Bt + ) dB

e iG.r F (G )
2G 2

(5)

(3)

Here =0.0852 S-1G-1 is the muon gyro

magnetic ratio, is a phase constant and

( B ' ) = [ B ' B ( r ) ]

cases. As is the case in using modified


Landau models, the key is to be careful with
the interpretation of the fitted values.
The GL equations for the ideal
Abrikosov vortex lattice can be solved by a
variational method.11 At low reduced field
b=B/Bc2 << 1 and for >>1, an excellent
analytical approximation to the spatial field
profile in GL theory is12

(4)

is the probability of finding a local magnetic


field B in the z-direction at a position r in the
x-y plane.
GINZBURG-LANDAU MODELS:
In recent year, modified Landau
models for B(r) have been abandoned in
favour of models based on GL theory. The
appealing aspect of the GL models is that the
spatial variation of the order parameter is
naturally built into the theory. The drawback
is the GL theory assumes that the order
parameter varies slowly in space and is
strictly valid only near Tc. Despite these
limitation, GL theory has proven to be
highly successful in describing variations of
n(B) as measured by SR, yielding accurate
quantitative values of and in certain

Where F(G) = uK1(u), u2 = 22G2(1-b4)[12b(1-b)2] and K1(u) is a modified Bessel


function. Note the cutoff function F(G)
depends on the local internal magnetic field
B.
VORTEX CORE SIZE
Superconductivity
is
strongly
suppressed in the vortex core. Vortex core
size is that it is a region of radius r
where is the coherence length. It is the
length scale for spatial variation of the order
parameter which is the GL coherence
length. The core radius is defined as

1 =

0
lim r

Where 0 =

(r )
r

(6)

is the bulk superconducting

energy gap at zero temperature and 0 is


BCS coherence length. ab is given by

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)

0
2
ab = ( 2 Hc2 )

(7)

88

where 0 is flux quanta and Hc2 is the upper


critical field.

Table T1
An Evaluated results of magnetic field dependence of Vortex core size for superconductor V3Si, NbSe2
and LuNi2B2C

r0()

H
Hc2

V3Si (T=0.22Tc)

NbSe2 (T=0.03Tc)

LuNi2B2C (T=0.16Tc)

Theo.

Expt.15

Theo.

Expt. 16

Theo.

Expt. 17

0.05

60.25

59.16

152.48

157.24

186.54

188.38

0.07

58.46

55.42

150.77

155.58

182.25

185.86

0.10

54.72

53.58

146.56

150.06

178.43

180.58

0.15

50.12

49.10

140.18

144.28

174.22

178.22

0.20

43.55

41.86

13.26

135.48

164.86

166.12

0.22

40.18

39.17

127.98

130.04

160.25

162.48

0.24

37.10

36.48

122.50

125.18

154.15

159.25

0.26

35.26

30.59

117.84

120.52

150.46

155.56

0.28

31.87

28.22

112.52

114.05

143.86

150.41

0.30

28.55

26.06

102.59

104.86

140.78

144.59

0.35

26.18

24.21

98.23

100.22

136.26

139.12

0.40

22.28

20.53

95.16

95.84

131.53

134.28

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

89

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)
Table T2

An Evaluated results of magnetic field dependence of coherence length ab() for superconductor
V3Si, NbSe2 and LuNi2B2C.

ab ()
H
Hc2

V3Si (T=0.22Tc)

NbSe2 (T=0.03Tc)

LuNi2B2C (T=0.16Tc)

Theo.

Expt.15

Theo.

Expt. 16

Theo.

Expt. 17

0.05

42.14

45.58

105.29

108.06

84.22

89.97

0.07

40.22

42.27

103.58

106.53

80.39

85.26

0.10

38.29

40.54

100.07

102.46

76.46

81.38

0.15

36.84

38.86

97.39

99.55

72.29

78.54

0.18

34.55

35.59

94.58

96.68

68.55

74.22

0.20

30.27

31.44

91.22

94.22

62.34

70.16

0.22

28.17

30.05

87.48

90.18

58.26

65.55

0.24

26.22

28.29

81.95

85.55

53.58

60.28

0.26

24.53

27.09

76.42

80.29

50.22

55.48

0.28

21.86

24.66

73.54

75.16

47.59

52.22

0.30

18.47

20.14

69.42

71.22

41.22

49.58

0.35

15.38

18.36

61.55

68.29

38.16

41.33

0.40

12.24

15.46

55.29

61.86

32.25

38.29

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS:
In this paper, we have theoretically
evaluated the magnetic field dependence of

the vortex core size r0 () coherence length


ab() of superconductor V3Si, NbSe2 and
LuNi2B2C. These parameters have been
determined from muon spin rotation

Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

S. N. Pandey, et al., J. Pure Appl. & Ind. Phys. Vol.2 (2), 84-90 (2012)
measurements. The coherence length ab has
been determined from Ginzburg-Landau
model. The equation for the ideal Abrilosov
vortex lattice have been solved by a
variational
method.
Magnetic
field
dependence of the vortex core size and
coherence length are determined by taking
>> 1. is the GL parameter. The results
for r0() and ab() are shown in table T1
and T2 with experimental data.15-17
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Journal of Pure Applied and Industrial Physics Vol.2, Issue 2, 1 April, 2012, Pages (84-141)

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