The origin of resistance peak effect in high-temperature superconductors-apparent T/sub c/ anisotropy due to J/sub c/ anisotropy

We analysed the resistance peak effect exhibited by La/sub 1.85/Sr/sub 0.15/CuO/sub 4/[100] thin films, consisting of a peak just above T/sub c/ in the resistance versus temperature curves, similar peaks have been observed in intrinsic or artificially layered high- and low-T/sub c/ superconductors in a four-point contact configuration. Though several explanations have been proposed, the physical origin of this anomaly is still not understood. In this paper we show that the apparent T/sub c/ anisotropy which generates the peak may be accounted by different electrical transport mechanisms along a- and c-axis, i.e. critical current anisotropy.