Effect of the intrinsic Josephson coupling on the pancake lattice in layered superconductors

TL;DR

This paper develops a statistical field theory for pancake lattices in layered superconductors, analyzing how Josephson coupling influences their melting temperature and the interplay of magnetic and Josephson energies.

Contribution

It introduces a simple theoretical model that incorporates magnetic and Josephson interactions, enabling direct comparison and estimation of melting temperatures in layered superconductors.

Findings

Josephson coupling effects are comparable to magnetic interactions in BSCCO.

The theory estimates the pancake lattice melting temperature.

Magnetic and Josephson energies significantly influence pancake lattice properties.

Abstract

We study the pancake lattice system induced by application of transverse magnetic filed to the layered superconductor. A simple statistical field theory for the pancake lattice is derived. It incorporates effects of the magnetic interaction between pancakes as well as those of the interlayer Josephson coupling. The proposed description enables us to estimate the pancake crystal melting temperature from above. Also, it allows us to compare directly the effects of the magnetic and Josephson energies on the statistical properties of the pancake lattice. We demonstrate that even for such an anisotropic material as BSCCO the pancake interaction induced by the Josephson coupling is of the same order as the magnetic interaction.