Probe of the Josephson vortex lattice in BSCCO-2212 single crystal

Interlayer coupling in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O8(+delta) (BSCCO-2212) is examined with the out-of-plane resistance, R, in magnetic field, PT, up to 15T applied parallel to (ab)-plane of a single crystal with T-c > 90K. Sharp hysteretic jump in the tail of R(T, H) curve is observed at 5.5 less than or equal to H less than or equal to 11T while the crossover to the monotonous R(T) curve of non-Arrenius type occurs beyond that range of fields. Effect is found to be completely wiped out by the minor tilt of the crystal from the orientation a parallel to (ab) and could be related with a first-order phase transition in the Josephson vortex system.