Angular Dependent Study of Spatial Order-Disorder Transitions in the Vortex Matter of Superconducting Yb_3Rh_4Sn_(13)

摘要

We present here the results of angular-dependent magnetization measurements (both ac and dc) carried out in a weakly-pinned single crystal of a low T_c superconductor, Yb_3Rh_4Sn_(13). Both dc magnetization data (M-H) as well as the ac magnetic susceptibility plots (χ'(H)) have revealed the fingerprints of an order-disorder transition in the vortex matter for various orientations of the crystal with respect to the external magnetic field. Our findings show that the quality of the ordered Bragg glass (BG) phase in this isotropic compound depends significantly on the direction of the magnetic field with respect to the crystallographic axes; a better spatially ordered vortex configuration is obtained when the magnetic field is applied along the [110] direction than that when the magnetic field is applied along the [100] axis. The present findings in Yb_3Rh_4Sn_(13) bear resemblance with similar results reported earlier for borocarbide superconductors.