Effect of proton irradiation on the fluctuation-induced magnetoconductivity of FeSe1-xTex thin films

Abstract

The influence of proton irradiation on the fluctuation-induced magnetoconductivity of high quality FeSe1-xTex (x = 0.4, 0.55) (FST) thin films has been investigated. The measurements were performed with magnetic fields up to 13 T applied in the two main crystal directions. The results were interpreted in terms of the Ginzburg-Landau approach for three-dimensional materials under a total-energy cutoff. The analysis shows that properly-tuned proton irradiation does not appreciably affect fundamental superconducting parameters like the T-c value, the upper critical fields or the anisotropy. This has important consequences from the point of view of possible applications due to the enhancement of vortex pinning induced by irradiation.