Hall anomaly by vacancies in pinned lattice of vortices: A quantitative analysis on the thin-film data of BSCCO

TL;DR

This paper provides a quantitative validation of the vacancy mechanism as the origin of the Hall anomaly in BSCCO thin films, linking vortex vacancy motion to observed magnetotransport phenomena.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive validation of the vacancy model for the Hall anomaly using experimental data and vortex correlation theory, with no adjustable parameters.

Findings

Vacancy activation energies are much smaller than vortex line energies.

The vacancy model explains the Hall anomaly without adjustable parameters.

Comparison with vortex pair creation energy supports the vacancy mechanism.

Abstract

Hall anomaly, as appears in the mixed-state Hall resistivity of type-II superconductors, has had numerous theories but yet a consensus on its origin. In this work, we conducted a quantitative analysis of the magnetotransport measurements on BSCCO thin films by Zhao et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 247001 (2019)] and validate a previously proposed vacancy mechanism [cf. J. Phys. Condens. Matter. 10, L677 (1998)] with many-body vortex correlations for the phenomenon. The model attributes the Hall anomaly to the motion of vacancies in pinned fragments of vortex lattice. Its validity is first examined by an exploration on the vortex states near the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition on the vortex crystal. Comparisons are then carried out between the measured activation energies with the calculated creation energy of the vortex-anti-vortex pair and the vacancy energy on the flux-line lattice, with no adjustable parameter. Our analysis elucidates the theoretical basis and prerequisites of the vacancy model. In particular, the vacancy activation energies are an order of magnitude smaller than that of a sole vortex line. The proposed mechanism may provide a macro-theoretical framework for other studies.