Dynamic melting of confined vortex matter

TL;DR

This paper investigates how vortex matter in disordered channels undergoes dynamic melting, revealing a velocity-dependent transition that diverges near the equilibrium melting temperature, providing new insights into vortex behavior under confinement.

Contribution

It presents the first direct evidence of velocity-dependent dynamic melting in confined vortex matter through mode-locking experiments.

Findings

Dynamic melting collapses mode-locking effect at a critical velocity.

The dynamic ordering velocity diverges near the equilibrium melting line.

Velocity-dependent melting occurs even under disordered confinement.

Abstract

We study {\em dynamic} melting of confined vortex matter moving in disordered, mesoscopic channels by mode-locking experiments. The dynamic melting transition, characterized by a collapse of the mode-locking effect, strongly depends on the frequency, i.e. on the average velocity of the vortices. The associated dynamic ordering velocity diverges upon approaching the equilibrium melting line $T_{m,e}(B)$ as $v_c \sim (T_{m,e}-T)^{-1}$. The data provide the first direct evidence for velocity dependent melting and show that the phenomenon also takes place in a system under disordered confinement. \pacs{74.25.Qt,83.50.Ha,64.70.Dv,64.60.Ht}