Magnetization curves were measured for Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 crystals which were irradiated with 5.8 GeV Pb ions along the c direction or at 45° with respect to it. Each ion produces continuous columnar that crosses the sample and yields a unidirectional pinning center. The density of the defects in...

The isothermal remanent magnetization Mrem of an YBa2Cu3O7 crystal was measured as function of the maximum applied field 10 Oe⩽Hm ⩽40 kOe, for several isotherms 4.2K⩽ T⩽65K, for Hm⊥c and Hm∥c. Above an onset field for flux penetration Hp, Mrem initially increases sharply with Hm and...

The vortex phases and dynamics of high-temperature and conventional amorphous superconductors are investigated over a broad frequency range. A second-order vortex-solid melting transition in both YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals with random point defects and amorphous Mo3Si films is manifested by a set...

The screening efficiency of YBa2Cu3O7 single crystal was investigated as a function of electron irradiation damage. The pinning force of flux lines was found to increase strongly after irradiation as well as the flux creep limited critical current. This indicates efficient vortex pinning by...

We discuss the different regimes which can be expected for quantum creep of flux lines by analysing the experimental results obtained for the relaxation rate as T→0 for Y1Ba2Cu3O7, Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8 and (ET)2Cu(NCN)2Br single crystals. We address the dimensionality of the pinned flux line, the...

Magnetization measurements on many single crystals of YBaCuO as well as BiSrCaCuO show a non-vanishing remanent magnetization in a region where the field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetizations coincide. We call this kind of remanence “residual irreversibility”. We argue that this...

An abrupt collapse of the irreversibility line is observed in both twinned and untwinned YBaCuO crystals within a critical regime. The exponent α of the power law describing the irreversibility line Hirr changes from 43 at high fields to larger values (between 1.5 and 2) below the collapse. We...

Studies of vortex dynamics and pinning were conducted in irradiated Y1Ba2Cu3O7 single crystals by observing the decay of supercurrents with time. The materials contained either point-like defects from proton irradiation or line-like defects from irradiation with energetic heavy ions. Analysis of...