Effect of heating on critical current of YBCO nanowires

• We discuss transport of heat in YBCO nanowires and its implications to their superconducting properties.
• We demonstrate that in long wires the measured value of the critical current may be much lower than its theoretical value.
• Our results may be interesting in view of potential applications of YBCO nanowires in detectors of radiation.

We discuss transport of heat in YBCO nanowires and its implications to their superconducting properties. We find under which conditions the central part of a nanowire may turn normal. We demonstrate that in long wires it may happen at currents much lower than the theoretical value of superconducting critical current. We derive a simple formula for the corresponding threshold current in terms of the heat transport parameters of YBCO. Our results may be interesting in view of potential applications of YBCO nanowires in detectors of radiation.