Transient voltage response of a superconducting strip to a supercritical current pulse

A superconductor subject to a supercritical current pulse displays a delay time between the onset of the current pulse and the onset of the corresponding voltage response. From the onset of the voltage response it takes a second (transient) time to reach the stationary state. It is shown that the transient time can be explained with inhomogeneities in the strip which give rise to a distribution of delay times. The transient time is thus not related to a characteristic time in the superconductor. For small supercritical currents also heating effects show up. (author)