First-order phase transition from the vortex liquid to an amorphous solid

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Apr 11;90(14):147001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.147001. Epub 2003 Apr 8.

Abstract

We present a systematic study of the topology of the vortex solid phase in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 samples with low doses of columnar defects. A new state of vortex matter imposed by the presence of geometrical contours associated with the random distribution of columns is found. The results show that the first-order liquid-solid transition in this vortex matter does not require a structural symmetry change.