Local magnetization fluctuations in superconducting glasses resolved by Hall sensors

Abstract

We report on magnetization measurements performed on a series of Fe$_{x}$Ni$_{1-x}$Zr$_{2}$ superconducting metallic glasses with $0\leq x\leq0.5$ using the Hall effect of a nearby 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a GaAs/Al$_{0.33}$Ga$_{0.67}$As heterostructure as a local probe. The great sensitivity of the Hall effect of the 2DEG in such heterostructure is exploited to determine the magnetization of the superconductor due to the Meissner effect and flux trapping. The data is used to determine the lower critical field B$_{c1}$ of the superconductors as a function of temperature. Surprisingly large fluctuations in the magnetization are also observed and attributed to the presence of large flux clusters in the superconductor.