# Influence of surface irregularities on barriers for vortex entry in type-II superconductors

## Abstract

A theoretical description of the influence of surface irregularities (such as wedge-like cracks) on the Bean-Livingston energy barrier is presented. A careful quantitative estimate of the field of the first vortex entry $`H^{}`$ into a homogeneous bulk superconductor with crack-like defects is obtained. This estimate is based on an exact analytical solution for the Meissner current distribution in a bulk superconductor with a single two-dimensional infinitely thin crack. This thin crack is characterized by the lowest $`H^{}`$ value, and, thus, appears to be the best gate for vortex entry.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of influence of properties of a sample surface on the Bean-Livingston (BL) barrier have recently attracted a great deal of attention (see, e.g., ). Surface imperfections can result in a decrease of the critical field $`H^{}`$ of the first vortex entry into a superconductor: $`H^{}\gamma H_p^{}`$, where $`H_p^{}`$ is the critical field corresponding to the BL barrier suppression in the ideal type-II superconductors, $`\gamma <1`$.

Provided we neglect the thermal activation effects (see, e.g., ), the vortex penetration into a superconductor is possible, if two conditions are fulfilled:

(i) the current density should be equal to the depairing (Ginzburg-Landau) current density $`j_{GL}`$ to form the normal core;

(ii) the energy of the vortex should decrease with an increase of the distance from the surface, otherwise the vortex could not penetrate into the bulk.

It is obvious that the properties of the near-surface region strongly affect these conditions. In  the BL barrier suppression has been analyzed for the case of small ($`L<\lambda `$) or smooth asperities ($`L`$ is the depth of defects, $`\lambda `$ is the London penetration depth). In this case the suppression of the BL barrier was shown to be moderate $`(\gamma 0.9)`$. We believe the effect of the barrier suppression to be the strongest, when the surface defects have the form of thin deep cracks with dimension $`L\stackrel{_>}{_{}}\lambda `$, oriented across the Meissner current lines, and, stretched along an external magnetic field $`H`$. The existense of such cracks leads to enhancement of the current density near the crack edge and, therefore, facilitates creation of vortices and their further penetration into the bulk .

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the factor $`\gamma `$ for a single wedge-like crack with $`L\lambda `$ (the base wedge angle in the plane $`(x,y)`$ is $`\theta _0`$, the wedge edge is parallel to the direction of an external magnetic field $`H`$, the $`z`$axis is along the wedge edge). The equation for the magnetic field inside a superconductor with a single vortex line reads:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }B_z\frac{1}{\lambda ^2}B_z=\frac{\varphi _0}{\lambda ^2}\delta (𝐫𝐚),B_z|_\mathrm{\Gamma }=H.$$
(1)   
We will use a cylindrical coordinate system $`(r,\theta ,z)`$ with the origin at the wedge edge, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is the contour chosen along both sides of the wedge ($`\theta =0`$ and $`\theta =2\pi \theta _0`$), the point ($`r=a,\theta =\theta _v`$) is the vortex position ($`aL`$). For small distances $`r\lambda ,a\lambda `$ we can neglect the screening effects, and omit second term in the left-hand side of Eq. (1). Using the conformal mapping method, we get the magnetic field distribution near the wedge edge:

$$B_z(r,\theta )=\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{4\pi \lambda ^2}ln\frac{R^\mu +R^\mu 2\mathrm{cos}\mu (\theta +\theta _v)}{R^\mu +R^\mu 2\mathrm{cos}\mu (\theta \theta _v)}+H(1\beta (\frac{r}{\lambda })^\mu sin\mu \theta ),$$
(2)   
where $`\mu =\pi /(2\pi \theta _0)`$, $`R=r/a`$, and $`\beta =\beta (\theta _0)`$ is the dimensionless factor. The Gibbs energy of the vortex per unit length is given by the expression

$$G(a,\theta _v)=\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{4\pi }\left[\beta H\left(\frac{a}{\lambda }\right)^\mu sin(\mu \theta _v)+\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{4\pi \lambda ^2}ln\left(\frac{a}{\mu \lambda }\right)+\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{4\pi \lambda ^2}ln(2sin(\mu \theta _v))+H_{c1}\right].$$
(3)   
The most energetically favorable direction of vortex penetration corresponds to $`\theta _v^{}=(2\pi \theta _0)/2`$. For this direction the energy $`G(a,\theta _v^{})`$ has a maximum at $`a_{max}=\lambda (4\pi \mu \beta \lambda ^2H/\mathrm{\Phi }_0)^{1/\mu }.`$ The critical magnetic field $`H^{}`$ corresponding to vanishing of the energy barrier is

$$H_\mu ^{}=\frac{1}{\mu \beta }\left(\frac{\xi }{\lambda }\right)^{1\mu }H_p^{}.$$
(4)   
At fields $`HH^{}`$ the current density near the wedge edge is of the order of the depairing current density $`j_{GL}`$, which is necessary to create a normal core. Note that maximum suppression of the BL energy barrier occurs for a thin crack $`(\theta _01)`$, when $`\mu =1/2`$ and the first vortex entry takes place in an external magnetic field

$$H_0^{}=\frac{2}{\beta }\frac{1}{\sqrt{\kappa }}H_p^{},$$
(5)   
where $`\kappa =\lambda /\xi `$.

Note that the factor $`\beta `$ is of fundamental interest for explanation of the large reduction of the BL barrier observed experimentally, and can be obtained correctly only on the basis of a detailed solution of the screening problem. The authors of  have concluded that $`\beta `$ is of the order of unity, and so their estimate of the entrance field $`H^{}(\xi /\lambda )^{(1\mu )}H_p^{}`$ is valid only within the arbitrary dimensionless factor. We will obtain the exact value of $`\beta `$ for the most interesting case $`\theta _00`$, which is necessary to find the ultimate suppression of the Bean-Livingston barrier.

To obtain the solution it is useful to note that the London equation (1) can be rewritten in the form of the integral equation with auxiliary vortex sources at the border of a superconductor (see also Ref.):

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}{2\pi \lambda ^2}\underset{0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}K_0(|r\rho |/\lambda )n(r)𝑑r=H(\rho >0),$$
(6)   
where $`K_0(r)`$ is the McDonald function of zero kind. Using the Wiener-Hopf method, we get the following result:

$$n(r)=\frac{2\lambda H}{\mathrm{\Phi }_0}\left(\frac{e^{r/\lambda }}{\sqrt{\pi r/\lambda }}+\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi }}\underset{0}{\overset{\sqrt{r/\lambda }}{}}e^{u^2}𝑑u\right).$$
(7)   
Using the expression

$$\frac{\lambda ^2}{r}\left(\frac{B}{\theta }|_{\theta =0}\frac{B}{\theta }|_{\theta =2\pi \theta _0}\right)=\mathrm{\Phi }_0n(r)$$

for small $`r\lambda `$ one can obtain the factor $`\beta =2/\sqrt{\pi }`$.

Thus, we obtain the ultimate suppression of the BL barrier. Vortex penetration starts when an external magnetic field oriented along the crack achieves the following value:

$$H_0^{}=\frac{\sqrt{\pi }}{\sqrt{\kappa }}H_p^{}.$$
(8)   
For HTSC $`\kappa 10^2`$, hence $`H_0^{}=H_p^{}\sqrt{\pi /\kappa }0.18H_{cm}3.9H_{c1}`$, where $`H_{c1}`$ is the lower critical field.

To summarize, we found out that surface irregularities strongly suppress the BL barrier for vortex penetration into the bulk and the rate of suppression depends on the type of the defects. The maximum suppression occurs for thin wedge-like cracks oriented parallel to $`H`$ and in this case we have found the analytical expression for the critical field $`H^{}`$ of the first vortex entry.

We are grateful to J.R.Clem, A.A.Andronov, I.L.Maksimov, D.Yu.Vodolazov, N.B.Kopnin for useful discussions and valuable comments, and to A.I.Buzdin for correspondence. This work was supported, in part, by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 99-02-16188) and by the International Center for Advanced Studies (INCAS 99-2-03).