Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 257001 (2003) [4 pages]Thermally Activated Spontaneous Fluxoid Formation in Superconducting Thin Film RingsReceived 19 February 2003; published 26 June 2003 We have observed spontaneous fluxoid generation in thin film rings of the amorphous superconductor Mo3Si, cooled through the normal-superconducting transition, as a function of quench rate and externally applied magnetic field, using a variable sample temperature scanning SQUID microscope. Our results can be explained using a model of freeze-out of thermally activated fluxoids, mediated by the transport of bulk vortices across the ring walls. This mechanism is complementary to a mechanism proposed by Kibble and Zurek, which only relies on causality to produce a freeze-out of order parameter fluctuations. © 2003 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.257001
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.257001
PACS:
74.40.+k, 03.75.Lm, 11.15.Ex
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