The nature of the larger portion of my research has been to use measurements of the dynamical properties of vorticies in type-II superconductors as a method of investigating the underlying superconducting properties of the host material. Various findings from early studies include; the coexistence of the solid vortex-glass and vortex-lattice states in high purity YBa₂Cu₃O_7-d twinned single crystals, within and external to the twin boundary regions, respectively; the first experimental evidence of the Bragg-glass state in MgB₂; and, evidence for an emergent peak effect in the first films of CeRu₂ to be grown by the pulsed laser deposition method. My recent work has been focused on addressing many issues surrounding the nature of the vortex-glass melting line in type-II superconductors. Analysis of electrical transport measurements on high-T_c cuprates in magnetic fields up to 45 tesla have led to the development of an expression that accurately describes the entire range of vortex glass melting line data of the cuprate compounds studied as well as that of many other type-II superconductors. This work ties together fundamental concepts concerning the dynamics of vortices, vortex pinning mechanisms, the stability of the vortex solid, and the role of critical fluctuations.

 

In addition to experimental measurements exploring the overdoped regime of high-T_c cuprates, I am working to develop an ultra-high vacuum chamber in which rare earth based inter-metallic compounds films will be grown using the pulsed laser deposition method. The design of this new chamber is based upon the successful design and construction of a similar chamber that comprised a portion of my thesis work. I am also continuing to work on the development of an analytical framework, applicable to all kinds and classes of superconductors, that relates the energy scale k_BT_c to the condensation energy.

B. J. Taylor and M. B. Maple, “Origin of Critical Temperature Universal Scaling

Relations in Type-II Superconductors,” Phys. Rev. B, 76, 184512 (2007). *Also

published in Virtual Journal of Applications of Superconductivity, Volume 13, Issue

10, (2007).

 

B. J. Taylor and M. B. Maple, “Quantum fluctuations and the dynamic behavior of

vortices along the vortex-glass melting line of Y_1−xPr_xBa₂Cu₃O_6.97 and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.5,”

Physica C 460, 843 (2007).

 

B. J. Taylor and M. B. Maple, “Evolution and analysis of the vortex solid to

vortex liquid melting line in Y_1−xPr_xBa₂Cu₃O_6.97 and YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ to 45 tesla,”

Phys. Rev. B 76, 014517 (2007). *Also published in Virtual Journal of Applications

of Superconductivity, Volume 13, Issue 3, (2007).

 

B. J. Taylor, D. J. Scanderbeg, M. B. Maple, C. Kwon, and Q. X. Jia, “Role of quantum

fluctuations in the vortex solid to vortex liquid transition of type-II superconductors,”

Phys. Rev. B 76, 014518 (2007). *Also published in Virtual Journal of Applications

of Superconductivity, Volume 13, Issue 3, (2007).

 

B. J. Taylor, S. Li, M. B. Maple, and M. P. Maley, “Vortex-melting and vortex-

glass transitions in a high purity twinned YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ single crystal,” Phys.

Rev. B 68, 054523 (2003). *Also published in Virtual Journal of Applications

of Superconductivity, Volume 5, Issue 5, (2003).