Commensurability effect and lock-in transition in Mo/Si superconducting superlattices

We report the first observation of the lock-in transition in artificial sup erconducting superlattices, which takes place in tilted magnetic fields. Th e measurements were carried out on the Mo/Si layered system. The temperatur e dependence of the critical angle for the trapping of the vortices in the orientation parallel to the layer planes is determined by the previously kn own resistive method and by a new method based on the effect of commensurab ility between the intervortex distance and the superlattice wavelength. The temperature dependences of the critical angle obtained by the two methods practically coincide. The experimental results are consistent with the theo retical predictions of Feinberg and Villard. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-777X(00)00402-3].