First order melting of vortex lattice in strongly type-II three dimensional superconductors

TL;DR

This paper predicts the first-order melting transition line of the vortex lattice in 3D type-II superconductors using density-functional theory and Hartree methods, aligning well with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a combined theoretical approach to accurately determine the vortex lattice melting transition in three dimensions, extending previous 2D models.

Findings

Quantitative agreement with experimental transition lines

Analysis of hysteresis width and latent heat at melting

Discussion of magnetization and Debye-Waller factor at transition

Abstract

We calculate the transition line of the first-order melting of vortex lattice in a three-dimensional type-II superconductor in fields of several Tesla, using the results from the density-functional theory of vortex melting in two dimensions and the self-consistent Hartree treatment of correlations along the field. The result is in quantitative agreement with experiment. The temperature width of the hysteresis, the latent heat, the Debye-Waller factor and the magnetization at the transition are discussed.