Oscillatory regimes of the thermomagnetic instability in superconducting films

Abstract: The stability of superconducting films with respect to oscillatory precursor modes for thermomag- netic avalanches is investigated theoretically. The results for the onset threshold show that previous treatments of non-oscillatory modes have predicted much higher thresholds. Thus, in film supercon- ductors, oscillatory modes are far more likely to cause thermomagnetic breakdown. This explains the experimental fact that flux avalanches in film superconductors can occur even at very small ramping rates of the applied magnetic field. Closed expressions for the threshold magnetic field and temperature, as well oscillation frequency, are derived for different regimes of the oscillatory thermomagnetic instability.