Long-Range Fluctuation-Induced Attraction of Vortices to the Surface in Layered Superconductors

It is shown that in extremely anisotropic layered superconductors the interaction of vortex lines with a parallel planar surface, which for straight lines along the c-axis decreases exponentially over the in-plane penetration depth $\lambda$, becomes a long-range dipole--dipole attraction when the vortex line is distorted randomly. This novel long-range fluctuation-induced attraction enhances the thermal fluctuations down to depths much larger than $\lambda$ and may lead to flux creep towards the surface.