Recent results in the interpretation of interference and Lorentz images of vortices in superconductors

The main ideas and approximations underlying the model developed to interpret the principal features of holographic and Fresnel images of superconducting vortices, or fluxons, are briefly reviewed and applied to the exploitation of new experimental setups, like the standard and coherent Foucault techniques. It is also shown how the model can be implemented to interpret effects due to misalignment and/or distortion of the fluxon cores. Finally, the effect of the finite specimen thickness is also taken into account by resorting to the solution of the Ginzburg-Landau equations found by Clem, and by showing that through it a better agreement can be obtained between theoretical and experimental results. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1999. All rights reserved.