Dynamic melting and decoupling of the vortex lattice in layered superconductors

The dynamic phase diagram of vortex lattices driven in disorder is calculated in two and three dimensions. A modified Lindemann criterion for the fluctuations of the distance of neighboring vortices is used, which unifies previous analytic approaches to the equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase transitions. The temperature shifts of the dynamic melting and decoupling transitions are found to scale inversely proportional to large driving currents. A comparison with two-dimensional simulations shows that this phenomenological approach can provide a quantitative estimate for the location of these transitions.