THERMAL SUPERCONDUCTING-NORMAL TRANSITION OF SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS, INDUCED BY THE HEATING OF NONSUPERCONDUCTING DEFECTS IN MICROWAVE FIELDS

A study is made of the thermal superconducting-normal (S-N) transition induced in high-temperature superconducting films by the Joule heatin g of small nonsuperconducting defects in a microwave field. It is show n that the loss of superconductivity either leads to the formation of a finite region of normal phase localized near the defect or encompass es the entire film. Estimates of the threshold and S-N switching time show good agreement with the experimental data. (C) 1998 American Inst itute of Physics. [S1063-7842(98)02501-X].