Abstract
The paramagnetic Meissner effect (PME), in which the field-cooled-magnetization (FCM) of superconducting samples is positive below the superconducting transition temperature Tc, has been observed in certain ceramic and single-crystal samples of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors and more recently in disk-shaped Nb samples. Through systematic investigations of the conditions for observing the PME in Nb disks, various surface treatments to the Nb disks were found to change both the zero-field-cooled-magnetization (ZFCM) and the FCM, including the appearance of a positive FCM in samples previously not exhibiting the PME as well as the elimination of the PME through surface abrasion. These results suggest that the PME arises from the field distributions created by the flux pinning associated with microstructural defects on the surface layer of the disk.
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