Uncovering flux line correlations in superconductors by reverse monte carlo refinement of neutron scattering data

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Mar 14;100(10):107001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.107001. Epub 2008 Mar 12.

Abstract

We describe the use of reverse Monte Carlo refinement to extract structural information from angle-resolved data of a Bragg peak. Starting with small-angle neutron scattering data, the positional order of an ensemble of flux lines in superconducting Nb is revealed. We discuss the uncovered correlation functions in the light of topical theories, in particular, the "Bragg glass" paradigm.