Abstract
We present a detailed investigation of the growth of the superconducting phase in a magnetic field. For type-I superconductors, the planar normal-superconductor interface is dynamically unstable. In the nucleation regime this feature leads to interface motion similar to that found in the solid-liquid transition. In the spinodal regime the spinodal growth proceeds by a sequence of phase-slip processes, unique to a system with a complex order parameter. In type-II superconductors, vortex absorption stabilizes a planar interface, despite the negative surface tension.
- Received 29 March 1991
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.66.3067
©1991 American Physical Society