Abstract
Muon spin rotation measurements of the magnetic-field distribution in the vortex state of the oxygen deficient high- superconductor reveal a vortex-lattice melting transition at much lower temperature than that in the fully oxygenated material. The transition is best described by a model in which adjacent layers of “pancake” vortices decouple in the liquid phase. In some samples we also observe changes in which are consistent with a vortex lattice which becomes disordered along the field direction above a crossover field A transition of this nature has previously been reported in the highly anisotropic superconductor
- Received 8 November 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.R890
©2000 American Physical Society