Experimental evidence for hotspot and phase-slip mechanisms of voltage   switching in ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x nanowires
  We have fabricated ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x nanowires with a high critical current density and studied their voltage switching behavior in the 4.2 - 90 K temperature range. A comparison of our experimental data with theoretical models indicates that, depending on the temperature and nanowire cross section, voltage switching originates from two different mechanisms: hotspot-assisted suppression of the edge barrier by the transport current and the appearance of phase-slip lines in the nanowire. Our observation of hotspot-assisted voltage switching is in good quantitative agreement with predictions based on the Aslamazov-Larkin model for an edge barrier in a wide superconducting bridge. 
M. Lyatti, M. A. Wolff, A. Savenko, M. Kruth, S. Ferrari, U. Poppe, W.   Pernice, R. E. Dunin-Borkowski, and C. Schuck
cond-mat.supr-con