EVIDENCE FOR JOSEPHSON VORTICES IN (BEDT-TTF)(2)CU(NCS)(2)

We present evidence for and study the properties of coreless Josephson vortices (parallel to the superconducting layers) in the organic superconductor (BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2, using ac susceptibility measurements in the mixed state. We observe (1) extremely weak-pinning restoring forces for flux motion parallel to the layers, due to the absence of the vortex normal core; (2) single vortex (noncollective) pinning, due to weak interactions between Josephson vortices; (3) the lock-in of the vortices parallel to the layers when the dc field is applied at an arbitrary angle; and (4) highly nonlinear response to the ac field h in the lock-in state, above a threshold of h0.5 G. The behavior of tilted flux lines is dominated by the much stronger pinning and collective interactions of two-dimensional Abrikosov pancake vortices, and linear response is largely restored when the flux lines unlock from the layers. We measure the Josephson penetration depth to be (T=5 K)200 m, yielding a penetration depth anisotropy of =/160-350. © 1994 The American Physical Society.