Amorphous Vortex Phase in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 After the First Order Liquid-Solid Phase Transition

M. MENGHINI; YANINA FASANO; F. DE LA CRUZ; S.S. BANERJEE; Y. MYASOEDOV; E. ZELDOV; C. J. VAN DER BEEK; M. KONCZYKOWSKI; T. TAMEGAI

JOURNAL OF LOW TEMPERATURE PHYSICS

Año: 2004 vol. 135 p. 139 - 142

0022-2291

It is widely accepted that the first-order vortex liquid-solid phase transition is associated with a crystalline solid phase and the second order transition with an amorphous one. The combination of a technique that determines the order of the transition with the visualization of the vortex structure has allowed the detection, for the first time, of a first-order liquid-solid transition without structural symmetry change. The results show that the quasi-long range order of the solid phase is not a neccesary condition for the first-order phase transition to ocurr. This opens an important question on the microscopic origin of the liquid-solid phase transition in vortex matter.