Flux dynamics and vortex phase diagram of cuprate superconductors(Ⅰ)

A brief introduction to the development of flux dynamics and the vortex phase diagram of high temperature superconductors over the past decade is presented. Due to its intrinsic properties, high-Tc cuprates exhibit very rich and complex characteristics. Many new concepts have thus been proposed and new phenomena observed, including the vortex glass state and transition, collective pinning and creep, first order and second order melting of the vortex matter, Bragg glasses, the peak effect, 2D vortex pancakes, Josephson vortex motion, and so forth. Many of the concepts are still under debate. In the complex vortex phase diagram, the system is characterized by three important parameters, i.e., the Ginzburg number, quantum resistivity, and the critical current density ratio. For cuprate superconductors, the former two parameters are one to two orders of magnitude larger than those in their conventional counterparts, while the last parameter is about one order of magnitude smaller. Investigations on the flux dynamics in cuprates will greatly help our understanding of the limitations on large scale application.