The London field in bulk layered superconductors

In a composite superconductor in uniform rotation, the London field strength at equilibrium is given by the usual expression BL = 2mω/e; here m corresponds to the bare electron mass, although the effective mass m can be different in different layers. In the presence of strong angular accelerations, however, transient phases and differences in m can become relevant. In particular, if the layers are orthogonal to the rotation axis and one of them is much thinner than the others, the superconductor may enter metastable states characterized by intense “slide” supercurrents in this layer. We investigate this phenomenon theoretically and with reference to current experiments. 74.25.Ha Magnetic properties 74.60.Jg Critical currents 74.62.Dh Effects of crystal defects, doping and substitution 74.80.-g Spatially inhomogeneous structures 74.80.Dm Superconducting layer structures: superlattices, heterojunctions, and multilayers