Two-stage dissipation in a superconducting microbridge: Experiment and modeling

Abstract

Using fluorescent microthermal imaging we have investigated the origin of "two-step" behavior in I-V curves for a current-carrying YBa_2Cu_3O_x superconducting bridge. High resolution temperature maps reveal that as the applied current increases the first step in the voltage corresponds to local dissipation (hot spot), whereas the second step is associated with onset of global dissipation throughout the entire bridge. A quantitative explanation of the experimental results is provided by a simple model for an inhomogeneous superconductor, assuming that the hot spot nucleates at a location with slightly depressed superconducting properties.

4 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Experiments in vortex avalanches
• Hot spots and waves in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks -a study by Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy
• Vortex avalanches and self organized criticality in superconducting niobium
• Imaging of Thermal Domains in ultrathin NbN films for Hot Electron Bolometers
• Transformation of in-plane $\rho (T)$ in $YB{a}_{2}C{u}_3{O}_{7-\delta }$ at fixed oxygen content