35 research outputs found
Spin polarized tunneling in ferromagnet/unconventional superconductor junctions
We study tunneling in ferromagnet/unconventional superconductor (F/S)
junctions. We include the effects of spin polarization, interfacial resistance,
and Fermi wavevector mismatch (FWM) between the F and S regions. Andreev
reflection (AR) at the F/S interface, governing tunneling at low bias voltage,
is strongly modified by these parameters. The conductance exhibits a very wide
variety of features as a function of applied voltage.Comment: Revision includes new figures with angular averages and correction of
minor error
Andreev reflections in the pseudogap state of cuprate supercondcutors
We propose that, if the pseudogap state in the cuprate superconductors can be
described in terms of the phase-incoherent preformed pairs, there should exist
Andreev reflection from these pairs even above the superconducting transition
temperature, . After giving qualitative arguments for this effect, we
present more quantitative calculations based on the Bogoliubov--de Gennes
equation. Experimental observations of the effects of Andreev reflections above
---such as an enhanced tunneling conductance below the gap along the
copper oxide plane---could provide unambiguous evidence for the preformed pairs
in the pseudogap state.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Theory of c-axis Josephson tunneling in d-wave superconductors
The temperature and angular dependence of the c-axis Josephson current and
the superfluid density in layered d-wave superconductors are studied within the
framework of an extended Ambegaokar-Baratoff formalism. In particular, the
effects of angle-dependent tunneling matrix elements and Andreev scattering at
grain boundaries are taken into account. These lead to strong corrections of
the low-temperature behavior of the plasma frequency and the Josephson current.
Recent c-axis measurements on the cuprate high-temperature superconductors
HgBa_2CaCu_{1+\delta} and Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta} can therefore be
interpreted to be consistent with a d-wave order parameter.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages with 4 eps figures, to appear in PRB R
Self-consistent scattering description of transport in normal-superconductor structures
We present a scattering description of transport in several
normal-superconductor structures. We show that the related requirements of
self-consistency and current conservation introduce qualitative changes in the
transport behavior when the current in the superconductor is not negligible.
The energy thresholds for quasiparticle propagation in the superconductor are
sensitive to the existence of condensate flow (). This dependence is
responsible for a rich variety of transport regimes, including a voltage range
in which only Andreev transmission is possible at the interfaces, and a state
of gapless superconductivity which may survive up to high voltages if
temperature is low. The two main effects of current conservation are a shift
towards lower voltages of the first peak in the differential conductance and an
enhancement of current caused by the greater availability of charge
transmitting scattering channels.Comment: 31 pages, 10 PS figures, Latex file, psfig.sty file is added. To
appear in Phys. Rev. B (Jan 97
Interface effects on the shot noise in normal metal- d-wave superconductor Junctions
The current fluctuation in normal metal / d-wave superconductor junctions are
studied for various orientation of the crystal by taking account of the spatial
variation of the pair potentials. Not only the zero-energy Andreev bound states
(ZES) but also the non-zero energy Andreev bound states influence on the
properties of differential shot noise. At the tunneling limit, the noise power
to current ratio at zero voltage becomes 0, once the ZES are formed at the
interface. Under the presence of a subdominant s-wave component at the
interface which breaks time-reversal symmetry, the ratio becomes 4eComment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Spin current in ferromagnet/insulator/superconductor junctions
A theory of spin polarized tunneling spectroscopy based on a scattering
theory is given for tunneling junctions between ferromagnets and d-wave
superconductors. The spin filtering effect of an exchange field in the
insulator is also treated. We clarify that the properties of the Andreev
reflection are largely modified due to a presence of an exchange field in the
ferromagnets, and consequently the Andreev reflected quasiparticle shows an
evanescent-wave behavior depending on the injection angle of the quasiparticle.
Conductance formulas for the spin current as well as the charge current are
given as a function of the applied voltage and the spin-polarization in the
ferromagnet for arbitrary barrier heights. It is shown that the surface bound
states do not contribute to the spin current and that the zero-bias conductance
peak expected for a d-wave superconductor splits into two peaks under the
influence of the exchange interaction in the insulator.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure
Influence of impurity scattering on tunneling conductance in normal metal- d -wave superconductor junctions
Tunneling conductance spectra between a normal metal / d-wave superconductor
junction under the presence of bulk impurities in the superconductor are
studied. The quasiclassical theory has been applied to calculate the spatial
variation of the pair potential and the effect of impurity scattering has been
introduced by t-matrix approximation. The magnitude of a subdominant s-wave
component at the interface is shown to robust against the impurity scattering
while that for a subdominant -wave component is largely suppressed with
the increase of the impurity scattering rate. The zero-bias conductance peak
due to the zero-energy Andreev bound states is significantly broadened for the
case of Born limit impurity compared with that of unitary limit impurity.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Temperature-dependence of spin-polarized transport in ferromagnet / unconventional superconductor junctions
Tunneling conductance in ferromagnet / unconventional superconductor
junctions is studied theoretically as a function of temperatures and
spin-polarization in feromagnets. In d-wave superconductor junctions, the
existence of a zero-energy Andreev bound state drastically affects the
temperature-dependence of the zero-bias conductance (ZBC). In p-wave triplet
superconductor junctions, numerical results show a wide variety in
temperature-dependence of the ZBC depending on the direction of the magnetic
moment in ferromagnets and the pairing symmetry in superconductors such as
, and -wave pair potential. The last one is a
promising symmetry of SrRuO. From these characteristic features in the
conductance, we may obtain the information about the degree of
spin-polarization in ferromagnets and the direction of the -vector in
triplet superconductors
A phenomenological theory of zero-energy Andreev resonant states
A conceptual consideration is given to a zero-energy state (ZES) at the
surface of unconventional superconductors. The reflection coefficients in
normal-metal / superconductor (NS) junctions are calculated based on a
phenomenological description of the reflection processes of a quasiparticle.
The phenomenological theory reveals the importance of the sign change in the
pair potential for the formation of the ZES. The ZES is observed as the
zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in the differential conductance of NS
junctions. The split of the ZBCP due to broken time-reversal symmetry states is
naturally understood in the present theory. We also discuss effects of external
magnetic fields on the ZBCP.Comment: 12 page
Theory of charge transport in diffusive normal metal / unconventional singlet superconductor contacts
We analyze the transport properties of contacts between unconventional
superconductor and normal diffusive metal in the framework of the extended
circuit theory. We obtain a general boundary condition for the Keldysh-Nambu
Green's functions at the interface that is valid for arbitrary transparencies
of the interface. This allows us to investigate the voltage-dependent
conductance (conductance spectrum) of a diffusive normal metal (DN)/
unconventional singlet superconductor junction in both ballistic and diffusive
cases. For d-wave superconductor, we calculate conductance spectra numerically
for different orientations of the junctions, resistances, Thouless energies in
DN, and transparencies of the interface. We demonstrate that conductance
spectra exhibit a variety of features including a -shaped gap-like
structure, zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) and zero bias conductance dip
(ZBCD). We show that two distinct mechanisms: (i) coherent Andreev reflection
(CAR) in DN and (ii) formation of midgap Andreev bound state (MABS) at the
interface of d-wave superconductors, are responsible for ZBCP, their relative
importance being dependent on the angle between the interface normal
and the crystal axis of d-wave superconductors. For , the ZBCP is due
to CAR in the junctions of low transparency with small Thouless energies, this
is similar to the case of diffusive normal metal / insulator /s-wave
superconductor junctions. With increase of from zero to , the
MABS contribution to ZBCP becomes more prominent and the effect of CAR is
gradually suppressed. Such complex spectral features shall be observable in
conductance spectra of realistic high- junctions at very low temperature