Transient response of tin microstrips to supercritical current pulses

We have measured the transient response of tin microstrips to short current pulses whose amplitude exceeded the dc critical current Icof the sample. The current pulses were generated by an electro-optic switching technique. The voltage across the microstrip was measured indirectly by integrating the sample into a transmission line and measuring the transmission characteristics. For a fixed pulse duration, no voltage was measured until a threshold Ic1(>Ic) was reached. Above Ic1, the voltage developed at a delay time of τd. When current amplitude exceeded a second threshold Ic2, the voltage onset occurred with no observable delay. These results were partially explained by existing theories that employed TDGL calculations.