Critical behavior of layered superconducting films in a parallel magnetic field

The equilibrium magnetization for layered superconducting films that experience a nonzero component H-parallel to of magnetic field applied parallel to the layers is computed at temperatures and at perpendicular field components in the vicinity of the decoupling transition; A fermion analogy is exploited for this purpose, whereby it is found that the parallel magnetization shows an anomalous H-parallel to(-1) tail at high fields due to entropic fluctuations of the (parallel) lattice of Josephson vortices. A collective pinning effect is also identified for c-axis transport limited by a single planar defect oriented parallel to both c and to the applied magnetic field. [S0163-1829(98)00826-1].