Joule heating induced by vortex motion in a type-II superconductor

We present experiments that determine the temperature increase in a type-II superconductor due to Joule heating induced by vortex motion. The effect of Joule heating is detected by comparing the response of the vortex lattice to fixed amplitude current steps of short ~10 ms! and long ~4 s! duration, where the Joule heating is negligible and saturates, respectively. The thermometry is based on the temperature dependence of the voltage response of the vortex lattice to a driving current. By monitoring the temperature increase in NbSe2 samples adhered on a sapphire substrate with GE varnish we obtain the effective heat transfer coefficient between the sample and the bath and show that the heating is primarily due to the power dissipated by the vortex motion.