Vortex solid phase with frozen undulations in superconducting Josephson-junction arrays in external magnetic fields

Hajime Yoshino, Tomoaki Nogawa, Bongsoo Kim

Published 2010-04-05, updated 2010-11-24Version 3

A vortex solid with self-generated randomness is found theoretically in a frustrated Josephson junction array (JJA) under external magnetic field with anisotropic couplings. Vorticies induced by external magnetic field develop stripes parallel to the direction of weaker coupling. It is shown analytically that there is a continuous, gapless band of metastable states in which stripes are deformed randomly by transverse undulation. The vortex solid with the frozen undulation in a metastable state freely slides along the direction of stronger coupling, thereby destroying ordering of phases even at zero temperature, but is jammed along the direction of weaker coupling.