Ac-magnetic susceptibility in the peak-effect region of Nb3Sn

Abstract

JapanWe performed a systematic study of the ac magnetic-susceptibility on a Nb 3 Sn single crystal which displays a strong peak effect near the upper critical field H c2 . In external magnetic fields above 0 3 T ≈ H μ , the peak effect manifests itself in a single, distinct peak in the real part ′ χ T ( ) of the ac susceptibility as a function of temperature T, the size of which continuously increases with increasing magnetic field H. In the imaginary part ( ) ′′ T χ of the ac susceptibility, on the other hand, a single peak initially grows with increasing H up to a well-defined value, and then splits into two sharp peaks which separate when H is further increased. We explain this surprising behavior by a flux-creep model and taking into account the enhancement of the critical-current density in the peak-effect region near T c in which Bean's critical-state model seems to apply. Outside this region, the crystal is clearly in a fluxcreep regime with finite creep exponent n.