Energy landscape and shear modulus of interlayer Josephson vortex systems

TL;DR

This paper investigates the energy landscape and shear modulus of interlayer Josephson vortex systems using a simplified model, revealing multi-valley energy structures and field-independent shear modulus at high fields.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified Lawrence-Doniach model to analyze the energy landscape and shear modulus, highlighting bifurcation points and anisotropy dependence in vortex systems.

Findings

Energy landscape exhibits multi-valley structure.

Ground states correspond to bifurcation points.

Shear modulus becomes field-independent at high fields.

Abstract

The ground state of interlayer Josephson vortex systems is investigated on the basis of a simplified Lawrence-Doniach model in which spatial dependence of the gauge field and the amplitude of superconducting order parameter is not taken into account. Energy landscape is drawn with respect to the in-plane field, the period of insulating layers including Josephson vortices, and the shift from the aligned vortex lattice. The energy landscape has a multi-valley structure and ground-state configurations correspond to bifurcation points of the valleys. In the high-field region, the shear modulus becomes independent of field and its anisotropy dependence is given by $c_{66}\propto \gamma^{-4}$.