Flux Lattice Melting and Lowest Landau Level Fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how lowest Landau level fluctuations influence flux lattice melting in YBCO superconductors, revealing that these fluctuations largely account for the specific heat changes observed during the transition.

Contribution

It demonstrates the significant role of LLL fluctuations in flux lattice melting and establishes a link between melting and LLL fluctuation onset in YBCO.

Findings

LLL fluctuations contribute to the specific heat step in flux lattice melting.

LLL fluctuations account for most of the latent heat during melting.

Flux lattice melting correlates with the onset of LLL fluctuations.

Abstract

We discuss the influence of lowest Landau level (LLL) fluctuations near H_{c2}(T) on flux lattice melting in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ (YBCO). We show that the specific heat step of the flux lattice melting transition in YBCO single crystals can be attributed largely to the degrees of freedom associated with LLL fluctuations. These degrees of freedom have already been shown to account for most of the latent heat. We also show that these results are a consequence of the correspondence between flux lattice melting and the onset of LLL fluctuations.