$δ$ -Function Peak in the Specific Heat of High- $T_{c}$ Superconductors: Monte Carlo Simulation

Publisher Website

3 November 1997

journal article
research article
Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters

Vol. 79 (18) , 3498-3501
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.79.3498

Abstract

A δ-function peak in the specific heat is observed at the melting point

T_{m}

of the flux lattice in high-

T_{c}

superconductors. It is

{18.5 k}_{B}

and

{17.5 k}_{B}

in the liquid and the solid phases per flux per layer, respectively, and increases to

{23 k}_{B}

in

Δ {T = 0.009 T}_{m}

around

T_{m}

. At

T_{m}

the system changes from the triangular flux lattice to a decoupled 2D liquid of vortices. The latent heat is

{0.07 k}_{B} T_{m}

per flux per layer.

Keywords

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