Eur. Phys. J. B 33, 103-107 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2003-00146-y

Vortex matter in lead nanowires

¹ Institut de Physique Nucléaire (FYNU), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
² Research Center on Microscopic and Nanoscopic Electronic Devices (CERMIN), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
³ Unité de Physico-Chimie et de Physique des Matériaux (PCPM), Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Corresponding author: ^a stenuit@fynu.ucl.ac.be

Received: 16 January 2003
Revised: 27 March 2003
Published online: 23 May 2003

Abstract

Theoretical and experimental magnetizations of lead nanowire arrays well below the superconducting transition temperature T_c are described. The magnetic response of the array was investigated with a SQUID magnetometer. Hysteretic behaviour and phase transitions have been observed in sweeping up and down the external magnetic field at different temperatures. The Meissner and Abrikosov states were also experimentally observed in this apparently type-I superconductor. This fact brings to the fore the non-trivial behaviour of the critical boundary ( in bulk materials) between type-I and type-II phase transitions at mesoscopic scales. The time-independent Ginzburg-Landau equations particularized to cylindrically symmetric configurations enable one to explain and reproduce the experimental magnetization curves within of error.