High-resolution magneto-optical imaging of critical currents in YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films

Magneto-optical investigation of flux penetration into type-II superconductors allows the determination of the local critical current density j(c), by inversion of the Biot-Savart law. Due to the required computational effort, in the past, this method was limited to low spatial resolution of the current density. In this paper, we present a fast inversion scheme using Fast-Fourier-Transformation, which allows high spatial resolution imaging of current distributions. Due to the nonlocal relation between magnetic field and current density, it is necessary to use a method that images field and current distribution of superconductors as a whole, and enables high resolution at the same time. To demonstrate the power of our method, the local current density in a YBa2Cu3O7-delta square and disk are imaged with high resolution and described in detail for increasing and decreasing external magnetic fields. At low fields, the dependencies of j(c)(B) on the local magnetic field B and of the average j(c) (magnetic moment) on the applied magnetic field show significant differences. Finally, we directly image the local current density near macroscopic defects in a square and a disk. The observed current distributions near defects significantly differ from the predictions of an extended Bean model. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.