Amorphous metals and their superconductivity

Quite a number of metals and alloys can be forced into the amorphous state by quenching. In particular, condensation onto a substrate cooled to He-temperature is very effective. The superconductivity and related properties of these metals are considered in this article. The influence of the amorphous structure on the electron and the phonon system is discussed. In simple metals the electrons show a free electron behaviour. The transverse phonons are softened but maintainn the ω³-density of states at low frequencies. The electron-phonon interaction does not conserve momentum due to the loss of translational invariance in the amorphous metal and yields a large contribution to α²F(ω) at low frequencies. Therefore the amorphous superconductors are strong coupling. The strong coupling character alters the temperature dependence of several superconducting parameters such as critical fields etc. The characteristic superconducting properties and superconducting fluctuations are discussed.