Vortex pinning: A probe for nanoscale disorder in iron-based superconductors

The pinning of quantized flux lines, or vortices, in the mixed state is used to quantify the effect of impurities in iron-based superconductors (IBS). Disorder at two length scales is relevant in these materials. Strong flux pinning resulting from nm-scale heterogeneity of the superconducting properties leads to the very disordered vortex ensembles observed in the IBS, and to the pronounced maximum in the critical current density j(c) at low magnetic fields. Disorder at the atomic scale, most likely induced by the dopant atoms, leads to "weak collective pinning" and a magnetic field-independent contribution j(c)(coll). The latter allows one to estimate quasiparticle scattering rates. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.