Current-induced resistivity switching effects near the melting line in detwinned YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{delta}}

Hysteresis of the E-J characteristics has been observed in the vicinity of the melting line using a sensitive superconducting quantum interference device picovoltmeter with millikelvin temperature resolution. It was found that in this region the system could be switched from a lower- to a higher-resistivity state by applying a current in excess of a threshold value. From the comparison of transport and ac susceptibility data, we conclude that in this hysteretic region the vortex solid and liquid phases coexist and that the observed transport phenomena can be explained in terms of the rearrangement of solidified vortex domains. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}