1999/08/18 by V. A. Schweigert, F. M. Peeters · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.83.2409
Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters
arxiv created 1999/08/18 · openalex publication_date 1999/09/20 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The saddle points of the free energy separating the stable states with a different number of vortices are obtained numerically. In contrast to known surface and geometrical barrier models, we find that in a wide range of magnetic fields below the penetration field, the saddle point state for flux penetration into a disk does not correspond to a vortex located near the sample boundary, but to a region of suppressed superconductivity at the disk edge with no winding of the current, and which is a nucleus for the following vortex creation. The height of this nucleation barrier, which determines the time of flux penetration, is calculated for different disk radii and magnetic fields.