Eur. Phys. J. B 6, 33-38 (1998)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050523

Vortex lattice accommodation on twin boundaries in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ studied by neutron diffraction

¹ Laboratoire CRISMAT (CNRS UMR 6508.) , ISMRA, 14050 Caen, France
² Matformag, CNRS, 38042 Grenoble, France
³ Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, CEN-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Corresponding author: ^a simon@crismat.ismra.fr

Received: 9 March 1998
Accepted: 12 June 1998
Published online: 15 November 1998

Abstract

An extensive study of small angle neutron scattering was performed in twinned YBa₂Cu₃O₇ crystals in its superconducting state as a function of the angle θ_B between the c-axis of the crystal and the magnetic field. The half of the twin boundaries are oriented in the horizontal plane, which also contains the neutron beam and the magnetic field. Two different diffraction patterns are studied as a function of θ_B at 5 K and B = 0.5 T, one along the c-axis of the crystal, the other one along the applied field. These variations are interpreted in the model of accommodation of the vortices on the twin planes by zigzagging from these planes to the ab-planes of the crystal, in order to minimize their energy.