Ac-magnetic susceptibility in the peak-effect region of Nb${}_3$Sn

Abstract

We performed a systematic study of the ac magnetic-susceptibility on a Nb3Sn single crystal which displays a strong peak effect near the upper critical field Hc2. In external magnetic fields above 3 T, the peak effect manifests itself in a single, distinct peak in the real part of the ac susceptibility as a function of temperature T, the size of which continuously increases with increasing magnetic field H. In the imaginary part of the ac susceptibility, on the other hand, a single peak initially grows with increasing H up to a well-defined value, and then splits into two sharp peaks which separate when H is further increased. We explain this surprising behavior by a flux-creep model and taking into account the enhancement of the critical-current density in the peak-effect region near Tc in which Bean's critical-state model seems to apply. Outside this region, the crystal is clearly in a flux-creep regime with finite creep exponent n.

14 pages (double spaced), 4 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Thermodynamic origin of the peak effect in the superconductor Nb3Sn
• Phase transition between the Bragg Glass and a disordered Phase in Nb3Sn, detected by 3rd harmonics of the AC magnetic susceptibility
• Application of a small oscillating magnetic field to reveal the peak effect in the resistivity of Nb3Sn

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Braess like Paradox on Ladder Network