This award will support Professor William G. Moulton of Florida State University in a research collaboration with Professors Nevill Clark and Alejandro Saenz of the University of Costa Rica. The goal of their research is to study flux pinning and vortex dynamics in high Tc superconductors. A Hall microprobe will be used to observe fluxoid motion driven by both force and thermal gradients. Studies will be made on thin films, produced at Florida State, of pinning forces and vortex behavior as a function of magnetic field and tempera- ture. The effect of the flux lattice and flux melting phases and the microstructure of the films on the flux lattice and pinning also will be studied. It is hoped that further evidence of 2 to 3D transitions can be observed. By providing expert personnel and facilities in a project of mutual interest that contributes to the scientific development of Costa Rica, this project fulfills the objectives of the Science in Developing Countries Program.
