Possible electrical-current-driven superconductor-insulator transition

In this work we have studied the effect of applied electrical current on th e resistive behavior of single phase Y1-XPrXBa2Cu3O7-Y [Y(Pr)123] polycryst alline samples with x close to the critical Pr concentration x(c) approxima te to 0.57 above which the superconductivity vanishes. The obtained results suggest the occurrence of a superconducting-insulator transition (SIT) dri ven by the electrical current. In particular, a crossing of current-voltage (I-V) isotherms at ma,magnetic-field-dependent current I-C(H) is found, an d the scaling behavior of nonlinear resistance R(I,T) = V(T)/I similar to t hat predicted in the scaling theory of SIT is obtained. We speculate that t his possible current-induced SIT can be considered as the dynamical counter part of the magnetic-field-tuned SIT.