History and metastability effects in the intermediate state of mesoscopic type I superconducting Indium

TL;DR

This study investigates the complex magnetic behaviors, metastability, and hysteresis effects in mesoscopic Indium superconductors, revealing multiple metastable states and superheating/supercooling phenomena during the superconducting transition.

Contribution

It provides detailed experimental insights into the metastability and hysteresis effects in mesoscopic type I superconducting Indium, highlighting new phenomena like topological hysteresis and metastable configurations.

Findings

Observation of topological hysteresis with different critical fields during flux entry and exit.

Identification of multiple metastable states and access methods.

Demonstration of superheating and supercooling across the transition.

Abstract

We report detailed magnetic measurements on history and metastability effects in the intermediate state of mesoscopic cylinders of type I superconducting Indium. This includes the observation of topological hysteresis with the signature occurrence of different critical fields during flux entry and flux exit. We show the existence of a plethora of metastable configuration and recipes to access them. We also demonstrate the manifestation of superheating and supercooling of superconducting and normal states, respectively across the superconductivity transition.