# Effect of rf electromagnetic irradiation on current-voltage characteristics of wide superconducting films

## TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates how rf electromagnetic irradiation affects the current-voltage characteristics of wide superconducting films, revealing suppression of critical current and smoothing of voltage steps with increasing rf power.

## Contribution

It introduces a model explaining the smoothing of voltage steps and suppression of critical current under rf irradiation in superconducting films.

## Key findings

- RF irradiation expands the linear IVC region
- Voltage steps associated with PSLs are smoothed and disappear with increased power
- A new adiabatic model explains observed effects

## Abstract

The effect of the electromagnetic irradiation on the current-voltage characteristics (IVCs) of a wide superconducting film is experimentally investigated. In contrast to the microwave field (several GHz) which suppresses vortex resistivity, the action of the rf field (tens of MHz) leads to significant expansion of the linear part of the IVC due to rapid suppression of the critical current with a slower change in the upper stability limit of the vortex state where the phase-slip lines (PSLs) occur. With an increase in the rf power, the stepwise structure of the IVC associated with the PSLs becomes smoothed and eventually disappears. A model of the IVC in the adiabatic regime is proposed, which explains the effects of smoothing of the voltage steps and the suppression of the critical current.