TY - JOUR
T1 - Dislocation loops and bond-orientational order in the Abrikosov flux-line lattice
AU - Marchetti, M. Cristina
AU - Nelson, David R.
PY - 1990
Y1 - 1990
N2 - An Abrikosov flux-line lattice with an equilibrium concentration of unbound dislocation loops is considered as a way to describe the entangled flux liquid that arises in high-Tc superconductors. The long-wavelength properties of this dislocation loop gas are discussed using continuum elastic theory. We show explicitly that edge dislocations drive the long-wavelength shear modulus to zero, i.e., melt the lattice, analogous to what happens in two dimensions. Dislocations do not, however, destroy the sixfold long-range orientational order of the crystal in the xy plane. The flux-line lattice with dislocations is therefore a hexatic liquid crystal of lines rather than an isotropic liquid. The expected signature of an entangled hexatic liquid from neutron diffraction is discussed. Long-range orientational order relaxes in the z direction with a correlation length due to flux-line entanglement mediated by screw dislocations.
AB - An Abrikosov flux-line lattice with an equilibrium concentration of unbound dislocation loops is considered as a way to describe the entangled flux liquid that arises in high-Tc superconductors. The long-wavelength properties of this dislocation loop gas are discussed using continuum elastic theory. We show explicitly that edge dislocations drive the long-wavelength shear modulus to zero, i.e., melt the lattice, analogous to what happens in two dimensions. Dislocations do not, however, destroy the sixfold long-range orientational order of the crystal in the xy plane. The flux-line lattice with dislocations is therefore a hexatic liquid crystal of lines rather than an isotropic liquid. The expected signature of an entangled hexatic liquid from neutron diffraction is discussed. Long-range orientational order relaxes in the z direction with a correlation length due to flux-line entanglement mediated by screw dislocations.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.41.1910
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.41.1910
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0001532968
SN - 0163-1829
VL - 41
SP - 1910
EP - 1920
JO - Physical Review B
JF - Physical Review B
IS - 4
ER -