Long-Range Fluctuation-Induced Attraction of Vortices to the Surface in Layered Superconductors

It is shown that in extremely anisotropic layered superconductors the interaction of vortex lines with a parallel planar surface, which for straight lines along the $c$ axis decreases exponentially over the in-plane penetration depth λ, becomes a long-range dipole-dipole attraction when the vortex line is distorted randomly. This novel long-range fluctuation-induced attraction enhances the thermal fluctuations down to depths much larger than λ and may lead to flux creep towards the surface.