Abstract
The peak effect (PE) has been observed in a twinned crystal of for in the low-field range, close to the zero-field superconducting transition temperature A sharp depinning transition succeeds the peak temperature of the PE. The PE phenomenon broadens and its internal structure smoothens out as the field is increased or decreased beyond the interval between 250 and 1000 Oe. Moreover, the PE could not be observed above 10 kOe and below 20 Oe. The locus of the values is indicative of the occurrence of a reentrant characteristic with a noselike feature located at and (where the flux line lattice constant ≈penetration depth The upper part of the PE curve can be fitted to a melting scenario with the Lindemann number The vortex phase diagram near determined from the characteristic features of the PE in bears close resemblance to that in the system, in which a reentrant PE had been distinctly observed earlier.
- Received 30 December 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.62.6699
©2000 American Physical Society