Second-peak effect in a superconducting (Tl, Bi)-1212 single crystal by ac susceptibility: Evidence for vortex plastic behavior

A second peak effect is observed for a (T1, Bi)-1212 single crystal using ac susceptibility measurements. The analysis of the frequency dependence of the second peak position shows that plasticity governs the vortex dynamics on both sides of the second peak line. This suggests that no particular change in the vortex dynamics occurs by crossing this line. We propose that this second peak effect is due to the temperature activated form of the characteristic relaxation times and to the fact that the characteristic activation energy U-c and the critical current density J(c) have inverse variations with the magnetic field B (when one increases with B the other decreases). We also propose that the time dependence of the second peak field position should indicate the vortex dynamics behavior: an increasing second peak field position with time is a fingerprint of elastic behavior while a decreasing second peak field position with time is a fingerprint of plastic behavior. The latter case agrees well with our experimental results. [S0163-1829(98)04441-5].