Probing microwave properties of high-Tc films via small dc magnetic fields

It is demonstrated that the combination of vortex matter and rf measurements yields new insight into the microwave properties of superconducting thin-film devices, both in small magnetic fields and zero field. The comparison of field-cooled and different types of field-sweep experiments on coplanar high-T-c thin-film resonators shows that the microwave properties strongly depend on magnetization and vortex distribution in the superconducting film as well. Thus, using vortices as a kind of local probe for the microwave properties leads to a consistent explanation of the microwave power handling in nonzero and zero magnetic fields. In a model that is derived from the experiments, the nonlinear microwave behavior is explained by the limitation of the total current density in the device considering contributions of the rf field and the screening of the magnetic field and vortices to the current. The limiting current value seems to be related to the dc critical current of the superconductor. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.