From isotropic to anisotropic superconductors: A scaling approach

Abstract

We present a new scaling approach which allows one to map results obtained for isotropic superconductors to anisotropic materials in a simple and direct way. The scaling rules are obtained on the level of Ginzburg-Landau– or London–type equations and applied directly to the desired phenomenological quantity. We illustrate the method by calculating the elasticity moduli, the depinning and melting temperatures, the critical current densities, and the activation barriers for classical and quantum creep in anisotropic superconductors for an arbitrary angle between the magnetic field and the axes of anisotropy.