Oscillatory behavior of vortex-lattice melting transition line in mesoscopic Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y}...

The vortex-lattice melting transition of a limited number of vortices confined in mesoscopic square superconductors was studied by c-axis resistance measurements using stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y}. In contrast to the melting transition in bulk crystals, we have first found a clear oscillatory behavior in the field dependence of the melting temperature in small samples of 5-10  μm square. The periods of the oscillations roughly obey the regularity of the matching conditions of square vortex lattices surrounded by a square boundary and the melting temperatures are enhanced around the vortex number of i^{2} (where i is an integer). The results suggest that a confinement effect by the square boundary stabilizes square lattice structures which are realized around i^{2} vortex number even in competition with the favorable Abrikosov triangular lattice in the bulk.