Abstract
We derive the wave-vector-dependent elastic moduli for a flux line lattice in compounds with underlying tetragonal crystalline symmetry. We find that it is essential to retain wave-vector dependence of the moduli when dealing with compounds where κ is large, as it is in the high- materials. We use our results to establish a Lindemann criterion for flux lattice melting, which we then compare with experimental data on two materials, and find excellent agreement. The melting curves are suppressed well below the mean-field superconducting-normal transition line and are linear in temperature over a wide range of magnetic fields. The point H=0, T= is approached as 1-T/∼. The degree of suppression of the melting curves among the different compounds is accounted for in the main by differences in mass anisotropy.
- Received 4 May 1989
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.40.6763
©1989 American Physical Society