Dynamic Critical Properties of the Vortex-Glass Transition Derived from Angular-Dependent Properties of La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) Films

We present resistivity data on a high-quality La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4-delta ) film measured in a magnetic
field of 1 T applied at an angle delta to the c axis. Using these data, the influence of the orientation of the magnetic field and the effective mass anisotropy on the vortex--glass transition can be studied. The variation of delta for a fixed magnitude of the magnetic field allows us to investigate the critical properties of interest, including the 2D-to-3D crossover and the 3D vortex glass-to-fluid transition, as the temperature is decreased. The data are well described by the scaling theory for the d.c. resistivity of an anisotropic superconductor in a magnetic field applied at an angle delta to the c axis. This scaling includes the critical properties close to and at the vortex--glass transition. The main results include (i) evidence of a Kosterlitz--Thouless transition in zero field, and (ii) a 2D-to-3D crossover at H=1 T as the temperature is decreased below the zero-field transition temperature, leading to the vortex fluid-to-vortex glass transition in D = 3 characterized by the dynamic critical exponent z approximately 5.7.