Pinning Action of Correlated Disorder against Equilibrium Properties of HgBa$_2$Ca$_2$Cu$_3$O$_x$: a Delicate Balance

TL;DR

This study investigates how correlated disorder in the form of columnar tracks affects the equilibrium properties of HgBa$_2$Ca$_2$Cu$_3$O$_x$ superconductors, revealing a delicate balance between pinning enhancement and reduced superfluid density.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of how induced correlated disorder impacts vortex pinning and equilibrium properties, incorporating anisotropy and vortex-defect interactions.

Findings

Increased columnar tracks reduce equilibrium magnetization.

Pinning effectiveness is offset by increased London penetration depth.

Vortex-defect interactions influence the superconductor's response.

Abstract

We report significant alteration of the equilibrium properties of the superconductor HgBa$_2$Ca$_2$Cu$_3$O$_x$ when correlated disorder in the form of randomly oriented columnar tracks is introduced via induced fission of Hg-nuclei. From studies of the equilibrium magnetization $M_{eq}$ and the persistent current density over a wide range of temperatures, applied magnetic fields, and track densities up to a ``matching field'' of 3.4 Tesla, we observe that the addition of more columnar tracks acting as pinning centers is progressively offset by reductions in the magnitude of $M_{eq}$. Invoking anisotropy induced ``refocusing'' of the random track array and incorporating vortex-defect interactions, we find that this corresponds to increases in the London penetration depth $\lambda$; this reduces the vortex line energy and consequently reduces the pinning effectiveness of the tracks.