Interface barriers for flux motion in high-temperature superconducting superlattices

Abstract

We study angular dependent magnetoresistance in the vortex-liquid phase of epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7 thin films and YBa_2Cu_3O_7/PrBa_2Cu_3O_7 superlattices. Superlattices were grown with different PrBa_2Cu_3O_7 thickness in order to tune coupling between YBa_2Cu_3O_7 layers. While dissipation of single film and coupled superlattices is scaled with the anisotropic three-dimensional model in the whole angular range, decoupling through PrBa_2Cu_3O_7 spacer breaks down the scaling and yields strong reduction of the dissipation when the magnetic fields are applied up to ±20degrees around the interface direction. Bean-Livingston barriers at the interface are the mechanism which governs this behavior.