Vortex lattice disorder in YBa2 Cu3 O7-δ probed using β-NMR

β -detected NMR (β-NMR) has been used to study vortex lattice disorder near the surface of the high- TC superconductor YBa2 Cu3 O7-δ (YBCO). The magnetic-field distribution from the vortex lattice was detected by implanting a low-energy beam of highly polarized L8 i⁺ into a thin overlayer of silver on optimally doped, twinned, and detwinned YBCO samples. The resonance in Ag broadens significantly below the transition temperature TC as expected from the emerging field lines of the vortex lattice in YBCO. However, the lineshape is more symmetric and the dependence on the applied magnetic field is much weaker than expected from an ideal vortex lattice, indicating that the vortex density varies across the face of the sample, likely due to pinning at twin boundaries. At low temperatures the broadening from such disorder does not scale with the superfluid density.