A detailed investigation of the E-J characteristic and the role of defect motion within the flux-line lattice for high-current-density, high-field superconducting compounds with particular reference to data on Nbsub(s)Sn throughout its entire field-temperature phase space

This paper analyses the role of defects within the flux-line lattice of high-current-density superconductors. A simple model demonstrates that above the normal density distribution in critical currents the E-J characteristic is linear with a resistivity many orders of magnitude less than the bulk flux-flow resistivity. The universality of the three free parameters that describe the defect motion is explicitly demonstrated by considering data on Nb3Sn throughout its entire superconducting phase. (author)