Abstract
We describe an experimental search for spontaneous formation of flux lines during a rapid quench of thin films through This effect is expected according to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism of a creation of topological defects of the order parameter during a symmetry-breaking phase transition. Spontaneously formed vortices were previously observed in superfluid while a similar experiment in superfluid gave negative results. Using a high- superconducting quantum interference device, we measured both the magnetic flux in the sample during a quench with a sensitivity of 20 and the field noise which one would expect from flux lines pinned in the film. The sensitivity was sufficient to detect spontaneous flux at a level corresponding to of the prediction. Within our resolution, we saw no evidence for this effect.
- Received 9 April 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.60.7595
©1999 American Physical Society