Temperature-driven transition into vortex clusters in low-kappa intertype superconductors

In the vicinity of the type-I/type-II crossover in conventional superconductors, vortices exhibit a nonmonotonic interaction, which leads to exotic vortex matter states. We perform molecular dynamics simulations on a model superconductor in the intertype regime. In a field cooled approach, we examine the transition of a homogeneous vortex lattice (VL) into a structure consisting of VL domains and Meissner-state domains. The results show extraordinary stability of the transition against vortex pinning and a strong dependence on the external magnetic field.