Vortex pinning by intrinsic correlated defects in Fe_1-ySe

Abstract

We present a study on the transport and magnetic properties of superconducting Fe1−ySe single crystals. In the superconducting state, the in-plane electrical resistivity of the crystal is measured for fields up to 16 T and as a function of field direction, in order to understand how the vortex dynamics is affected by the presence of defects. A strong deviation from the slightly anisotropic crystal (electronic anisotropy constant gamma~1.08) is observed as a steep angular dependence, which is interpreted as a signature of the presence of correlated defects. The influence of the correlated defects on the critical current is studied through the angular dependence of the magnetization, and compared to numerical simulations.