High-field flux jumps in BSCCO at very low temperature

Magnetization of single crystals of high-T-c superconductor BSCCO-2212 comp rises flux jumps (FJs) that differ qualitatively from well-studied magneto- thermal instabilities in conventional superconductors. FJs start above full penetration field, demonstrating clear periodicity in the slowly changing magnetic field. Magnetization process exhibits high reproducibility, which is, however, prone to sudden and uncontrollable breaks. Thin plate-like sam ples were examined in fields up to 17 T at temperatures down to 0.3 K, usin g magnetometric and calorimetric techniques. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.