Direct observation of melting in a 2-D superconducting vortex lattice Export

@article{citeulike:5452810, abstract = {Topological defects such as dislocations and disclinations are predicted to determine the twodimensional (2-D) melting transition. In 2-D superconducting vortex lattices, macroscopic measurements evidence melting close to the transition to the normal state. However, the direct observation at the scale of individual vortices of the melting sequence has never been performed. Here we provide step by step imaging through scanning tunneling spectroscopy of a 2-D system of vortices up to the melting transition in a focused-ion-beam nanodeposited W-based superconducting thin film. We show directly the transition into an isotropic liquid below the superconducting critical temperature. Before that, we find a hexatic phase, characterized by the appearance of free dislocations, and a smectic-like phase, possibly originated through partial disclination unbinding. These results represent a significant step in the understanding of melting of 2-D systems, with impact across several research fields, such as liquid crystal molecules, or lipids in membranes.}, archivePrefix = {arXiv}, author = {Guillamon, I. and Suderow, H. and Fernandez-Pacheco, A. and Sese, J. and Cordoba, R. and De Teresa, J. M. and Ibarra, M. R. and Vieira, S.}, citeulike-article-id = {5452810}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.2124}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://arxiv.org/pdf/0908.2124}, day = {14}, eprint = {0908.2124}, keywords = {stm, topological}, month = {Aug}, posted-at = {2009-08-17 17:39:26}, priority = {2}, title = {Direct observation of melting in a 2-D superconducting vortex lattice}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.2124}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5452810 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5452810 N2 - Topological defects such as dislocations and disclinations are predicted to determine the twodimensional (2-D) melting transition. In 2-D superconducting vortex lattices, macroscopic measurements evidence melting close to the transition to the normal state. However, the direct observation at the scale of individual vortices of the melting sequence has never been performed. Here we provide step by step imaging through scanning tunneling spectroscopy of a 2-D system of vortices up to the melting transition in a focused-ion-beam nanodeposited W-based superconducting thin film. We show directly the transition into an isotropic liquid below the superconducting critical temperature. Before that, we find a hexatic phase, characterized by the appearance of free dislocations, and a smectic-like phase, possibly originated through partial disclination unbinding. These results represent a significant step in the understanding of melting of 2-D systems, with impact across several research fields, such as liquid crystal molecules, or lipids in membranes. TI - Direct observation of melting in a 2-D superconducting vortex lattice KW - stm KW - topological AU - Guillamon, I AU - Suderow, H AU - Fernandez-Pacheco, A AU - Sese, J AU - Cordoba, R AU - De Teresa, JM AU - Ibarra, MR AU - Vieira, S PY - 2009/Aug/14/ UR - http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.2124 ER -