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 NBSSN 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 Nb//3Sn throughout its entire superconducting phase.