I–V curves of Y–Ba–Cu–O microbridges in the flux flow regime

We report on measurements of I–V curves in microbridges of thin Y–Ba–Cu–O films of different thickness, in the presence of external magnetic fields up to 6 T. A discontinuity is observed at a critical voltage, V*, in the flux flow regime, reflecting an electronic instability, as predicted by Larkin and Ovchinnikov (LO), and in agreement with results reported by Doettinger et al. [Phys. Rev. Let. 73 (1994) 1691]. The critical voltage, V*, and the flux flow resistance, R0, in the limit V→0, are calculated by fitting the data to the LO model. We find that the vortex critical velocity, v*, at the instability, derived from V*, decreases with magnetic field and film thickness. These results, not predicted by the LO theory, reflect the dependence of the (spatially averaged) quasiparticle energy relaxation rate on magnetic field and film thickness.