Theory of phase-slip processes in thin and dirty current-carrying superconducting wires: Deviations from local equilibrium

Oscillatory phase-slip solutions of a set of integrodifferential equations describing timedependent processes in dirty superconductors in the Ginzburg-Landau regime are found numerically very nearT _c . Deviations from local equilibrium improve the agreement with observedV?I curves.     

Time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations for strong coupling superconductors

We derive time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations for strong coupling superconductors. It is shown that due to a certain separability of the order parameter the equation for it’s time dependent fluctuations is again of diffusion type. Strong coupling effects show up only in the numerical coefficients of the diffusion equation. We apply our findings to the problem of electrical resistivity in strong coupling superconducting materials above the transition temperatureT _c.     

Fractality in rapidity space and low temperature intermittency in multihadron processes

We study intermittency effects in high energy collisions introducing a fractal measure in rapidity space and formulationg the hadronization sector of the S-matrix within the Ginzburg-Landau approach. The properties of the critical Feynman-Wilson fluid provide us with a boundary condition forT=T _c whereas a low temperatures (T?T _c ) a strong amplification of the intermittency effect is found, corresponding to a local minimum of the effective free energy. The significance of this solution for the interpretation of the intermittency phenomenon for low multiplicities is discussed and a comparison with experimental measurements is attempted, within the two-component model.     

Interplay of exchange and electromagnetic effects in the coexistence of superconductivity and helical spin order

A correct Ginzburg-Landau free-energy functional for exchange (EX) and electromagnetic (EM) effects in a magnetic superconductor is derived. We study the second-order transition from the superconducting phase to the superconducting phase with helical spin order. The temperature T_M of the onset of the helical ordering and the wave vector of the helix Q are calculated for some cases.     

Broadening of the specific heat jump in three-dimensional superconductors

The Ginzburg-Landau theory is used to calculate perturbatively the influence of stochastic inhomogeneities on the smearing of the specific heat jump in three-dimensional superconductors. The small-scale and large-scale (compared to the correlation length) inhomogeneities are simultaneously taken into account to derive a finite and continuous (in the vicinity of T _c ) expression for the temperature dependence of the superconductor specific heat.     

On the emergence of superconductivity and hysteresis in a cylindrical type I superconductor

One-dimensional vortex-free solutions of the system of Ginzburg-Landau equations (the so-called precursor states) are studied. These states describe the emergence of superconductivity in a long cylindrical type I superconductor, which was initially in the supercooled normal state in a magnetic field, and are formed upon subsequent reduction of the external field. The precursor states are responsible for the magnetic hysteresis in type I superconductors (for which κ < κ_c, where κ_c (R) is the critical value of the parameter κ in the Ginzburg-Landau theory, which is a function of radius). The range of fields is determined in which precursor states exist along with the Meissner state (and a hysteresis is possible) in the dependence of the cylinder radius R and parameter κ.     

Re-entry in ferromagnetic superconductors

The re-entry phenomenon in magnetic superconductors is studied using the generalized Ginzburg-Landau free energy introduced by Blount and Varma. The re-entry temperature T_c2 is simply that temperature at which the magnetization acts as a source of induction strong enough to destroy superconductivity. Above T_c2 ferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist. The structure is an Abrikosov vortex lattice, with ferromagnetic magnetization spreading widely around the vortex cores. Within our approximations, the phase transition at T_c2 is of second order.     

Fluctuations in superconductors belowT c

Thermal fluctuations of the order parameter in the superconducting state are investigated, particularly near the transition temperature, using the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory. These fluctuations give rise to a contribution of the dynamical conductivity, which strongly increases as the temperature is raised towardsT _c , in contrast to the temperature dependence of the electromagnetic response due to the static order parameter. At the transition temperature this contribution joins continuously to the extra response (conductivity, susceptibility) which has been calculated and observed in the temperature region aboveT _c , where it represents the onset of superconductivity in the normal state. Particularly the dynamical conductivity due to fluctuations is calculated and discussed for bulk material, thin films and thin wires belowT _c . The temperature and frequency dependence should be observable in microwave experiments.     

Surface critical magnetic field H<Subscript>c3</Subscript>(T) of a bulk superconductor MgB<Subscript>2</Subscript> using two-band Ginzburg-Landau theory

Two-band Ginzburg-Landau (TB G–L) equations for a bulk MgB₂ were solved analytically to determine the temperature dependence of surface critical magnetic fieldH _c3 (T). It is shown thatH _c3 (T) has the same temperature dependence with H_c2 (T), similar to the case of a single-band superconductor,H _c3 (T) = 166H _c2 (T). We use an elimination procedure for the decoupling of G–L equations of two-band superconductivity, which eases the calculations. It is expected that the temperature dependence forH _c3 (T) gives positive curvature nearT _c .     

Momentum conservation,time dependent Ginzburg Landau equation and paraconductivity

Superconductors exhibit increasing electrical conductivity as the temperature approachesT _c from above, due to superconducting fluctuations. The functions σ_f1=σ(ω, ?)-σ _n (ω), ?=(T-T _c )/T _c , have been derived by Schmidt phenomenologically using the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation (TDGL). These functions fail to vanish in the absolute clean limit τ → ∞ as they must. We have therefore reinvestigated the derivation of the linearized TDGL-equation and the corresponding current expression in the presence of a time dependent vector potential. We find several new terms, which are important for the rather clean superconductor only and are easily interpreted physically in terms of momentum conservation. Applying these corrected equations to the paraconductivity problem, we derive σ_fl(ω, ?) which has an extra factor (1 —iωτ)^?2 compared to Schmidt's result. There is also an additional term, which is connected to the problem of the contribution calculated by Maki. By comparison with the linear response function belowT _c , we show that this term is valid in the limit ¦ω¦?¦Δ¦ only and may not be continued to ω=0. There remains, however, a problem connected with this term, which cannot be solved within the present phenomenological framework.     

Temperature dependence of κc for type-II superconductors

The temperature dependence of the critical value κ_c of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter which separates type-II/1 from type-II/2 superconductors is theoretically computed by means of a microscopic calculation of the boson characteristic function at nonzero temperature, assuming that the temperature is not too close to T_c. Agreement with experimental data is satisfactory in the region $\text{0?T}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{?0.6}$.     

On the method of Eilenberger for inhomogeneous superconductors

The theory of Eilenberger, modified to take into account the effect of the surface, is applied to the problem of the penetration of a weak magnetic field into a semiinfinite superconductor, and the standard result for the vector potential is derived by linearizing the Eilenberger equations. The dominant term in the asymptotic behaviour is argued to be monotonic for both large and small values of the Ginzburg-Landau parameterk _gl . ForT≠ 0, there is a small intermediate range of values ofk _gl for which the dominant term is oscillatory, but these oscillations are not related to those found by Eilenberger and Büttner in the isolated vortex problem for smallK _gl . From an analysis of these results, we conclude that the absence of the Eilenberger-Büttner oscillations in the field penetration problem cannot be used as an argument against their existence in other problems; in particular, a separate investigation is required for the isolated vortex problem.     

Muon spin rotation in heavy-electron pauli-limit superconductors

The formalism for analyzing the magnetic field distribution in the vortex lattice of Pauli-limit heavy-electron superconductors is applied to the evaluation of the vortex lattice static linewidth relevant to the muon spin rotation (??SR) experiment. Based on the Ginzburg-Landau expansion for the superconductor free energy, we study the evolution with respect to the external field of the static linewidth both in the limit of independent vortices (low magnetic field) with a variational expression for the order parameter and in the near H _c2 ^P (T) regime with an extension of the Abrikosov analysis to Pauli-limit superconductors. We conclude that in the Ginzburg-Landau regime in the Pauli-limit, anomalous variations of the static linewidth with the applied field are predicted as a result of the superconductor spin response around a vortex core that dominates the usual charge-response screening supercurrents. We propose the effect as a benchmark for studying new puzzling vortex lattice properties recently observed in CeCoIn₅.     

Electrical conduction and critical magnetic field for superconductivity of a Nb3Se4 single crystal

With respect to the quasi-one dimensionality of single crystals of Nb₃Se₄, the electrical resistivity from 1.3 to 320 K and the critical magnetic field for superconductivity are measured. The resistivity along the Nb-chain direction is represented as a sum of a temperature independent and an intrinsic temperature dependent term. The temperature dependence of the intrinsic resistivity subjects to T³ form between 10 and 80 K above which it tends to a T linear form. The critical magnetic field is proportional to the temperature difference from the transition temperature. Its dependence is well fitted by the elliptical fluxoid model of Ginzburg-Landau theory. The ratio of the parallel and the perpendicular to the c-axis is 5.7.     

Magnetic field effects in the onset of superconductivity

Using the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory the influence of a finite and even strong magnetic field on the fluctuations in superconductors aboveT _c is studied. We calculate the dynamical conductivity, the Hall angle, and the static magnetisation from the fluctuations of the charge current associated with the fluctuations of the order parameter. It is found that the magnetic field generally enhances the singular contributions of the fluctuations to the conductivity and the susceptibility. Associated with this enhancement is a reduction of the characteristic frequency scale close toT _c .     

Incomplete Meissner effect of triplet superconductivity

The magnetic properties of a triplet superconductor are investigated using a phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory. Due to the presence of a paramagnetic term in the free energy arising from the energy required to flip the spins of a triplet pair by the magnetic field, the system does not exhibit a complete Meissner effect below T_c. This paramagnetic contribution to the magnetization is stabilized by the non-linear terms in the free energy, and for certain values of the parameters, can even cancel the diamagnetic term. The results are discussed in terms of the Anderson- Morel and Balian-Werthamer states.     

The c-axis fluctuation conductivity in layered superconductors in a strong electric field under a magnetic field

The effect of a high electric field on the c-axis fluctuation conductivity in layered superconductors near the superconducting transition is investigated by the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation. The c-axis fluctuation conductivity is calculated in self-consistent Gaussian approximation for an arbitrarily strong electric field and a magnetic field perpendicular to the layers. Our results include all Landau levels and have refined analytical form. The results in linear response are in good agreement with the experimental data in a wide region around T _c in high T _c superconductor. We also show that high electric fields can be effectively used to suppress the c-axis fluctuation conductivity in high-temperature superconductors.     

Electrical transport properties of a quasi-one-dimensional Nb3Te4 single crystal

The electrical resistance of a linear chain metal Nb₃Te₄ were measured from 1.3 to 320 K. The residual resistance ratio $\text{R(300}\text{K}\text{)}\text{R(4.2}\text{K}\text{)}$ is about 3. Nb₃Te₄ shows an anomaly in the resistivity vs temperature at about 80 K, suggesting an occurrence of a charge-density-wave transition. The transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance at 4.2 K are proportional to the magnetic field in the range of 2–58 kOe. In the superconducting region close to the transition temperature T_c, the critical magnetic field H_c2 is proportional to δT=T_c?T. The angular dependence of H_c2 fits well with the fluxoid model of the Ginzburg-Landau theory. The ratio of the critical fields parallel and perpendicular to the chain direction is 4.8.     

Thermal and magnetic properties of some YBa2Cu3O7−δ samples

Thermal and magnetic measurements have been performed on several YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ compounds, some ones showing a large content of high T_c (93 K) superconducting phase. A jump in the specific heat ΔCp, is well evidenced at the transition allowing a determination of the ratio ΔCp/T_c ≅ 23 ± 5. mJ/ (mole Cu)K². In addition, an estimation of the γ value (≅ 11 mJ/(mole Cu). K²) has been drawn from the determination of the electronic entropy at T_c. The samples have been characterized by susceptibility, magnetization and resistivity experiments. The critical field slopes at T_c were found to be dHc₁/dT ≅ 17 Oe/K and dHc₂/dT ≅ 20 kOe/K. The results are discussed in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory.