What is bitter decoration in superconductivity?

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peterjaybee
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Hello,

I have just read a report where a technique called bitter decoration is used in a superconductivity experiment, but nowhere in the report is this technique explained. Could someone please give a brief description of this technique. Many thanks

Peter
 

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It's where you sprinkle fine iron powder onto the surface of a superconductor; the powder will settle at points with magnetic flux --- the vortices. So it is a low-tech method to visualise the vortex texture of a type II superconductor in a magnetic field.