FLUX CUTTING IN YBA2CU3O7-DELTA SINGLE CRYSTALS : EXPERIMENT AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL

We measured the current induced loss of vortex correlation in YBCO crystals using the pseudo DC flux transformer geometry. We find that the current $I_{cut}$ at which the top and bottom voltage differ is a linear function of temperature independent of pinning. Although the vortex correlation length at $I_{cut}$ coincides with the sample thickness, the experimental data show that $I_{cut}$ is sample thickness independent. The observed behavior with temperature, magnetic field and thickness is described by a phenomenological model.