Zero-field-cooling magnetization relaxation measurements performed on ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Sr}}_2{\mathrm{CaCu}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_{8+\delta }$ single crystals in the low-temperature domain, with the external magnetic field oriented parallel to the $c$ axis, reveal the ordering of the creeping vortex system due to the macroscopic currents induced in the sample. This explains many apparently conflicting results concerning the vortex phase diagram of disordered high-temperature superconductors, which have led to the dichotomy elastic vortex glass—plastic vortex assembly for the vortex phase at high magnetic fields.

• Received 6 September 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.132502