Local Hall probe magnetometry: a new technique for investigation of magnetic flux penetration, exclusion and trapping in HTSC

The authors propose a novel, local Hall-probe magnetometry technique for the investigation of magnetic phenomena in superconductors. A miniaturized (80*100 mu m 2 size) Hall sensor allows them to measure magnetic features with a precision approaching that of a single vortex line. They demonstrate the efficiency of this technique by exhibiting magnetic data for YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 single crystals. These include magnetization curves, and determination of H*, the first field for full penetration.