Eur. Phys. J. B (2018) 91: 294
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2018-90447-3

Regular Article

Dynamical regimes of vortex flow in type-II superconductors with parallel twin boundaries

¹ Department of Physics and Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics (MC 0435), Virginia Tech, 850 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, 120 East Cameron Ave, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
³ Wellcome Trust/CRUK Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Rd, Cambridge CB2 1QN, UK
⁴ Academy of Integrated Science (MC 0405), Virginia Tech, 300 Turner Street NW, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

^a e-mail: tauber@vt.edu

Received: 9 July 2018
Received in final form: 7 September 2018
Published online: 26 November 2018

Abstract

We explore the dynamics of driven magnetic flux lines in disordered type-II superconductors in the presence of twin boundaries oriented parallel to the direction of the applied magnetic field, using a three-dimensional elastic line model simulated with Langevin molecular dynamics. The lines are driven perpendicular to the planes to model the effect of an electric current applied parallel to the planes and perpendicular to the magnetic field. A study of the long-time non-equilibrium steady states for varying sample orientation and thickness reveals a rich collection of dynamical regimes spanning the depinning crossover region that separates the pinned and moving-lattice states of vortex matter. We observe the emergence of a preferred direction for the ordering of the Abrikosov lattice in the free-flowing vortex regime due to asymmetric pinning by the planar defects. We have performed novel direct measurements of flux line excitations such as half-loops and double kinks to aid the characterization of the topologically rich flux flow profile.