Effect of magnetic field on a phase slip centre

The effect of a magnetic field on nonequilibrium quasiparticle relaxation processes in superconductors is investigated. It is observed that the normal-like length of the first phase slip centre (PSC) in an indium whisker gets much reduced under the influence of magnetic field for temperature near the critical temperature. This suggests that the number of PSC's in a whisker increases in presence of the magnetic field for I > I/sub c/. The results are in agreement with the experimental data for tin. (author)