Step change in equilibrium magnetization across the peak effect in 2H-NbSe2
20 September 1999
Isothermal magnetization measurements across the peak effect (PE) region in a clean superconducting crystal of 2H-NbSe2 reveal a step increase in the equilibrium magnetization suggestive of a first order phase transition. We relate this observation to the entropy change associated with the occurrence of order-disorder transformation across the PE in a weakly pinned flux line lattice (FLL). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.