82 research outputs found
Exact analytic Gorkov-Ginzburg-Landau theory of type-II superconductivity in the magneto-quantum oscillations limit
A new Green's function representation is employed in a microscopic derivation
of a Ginzburg-Landau theory of strongly type superconductivity at high magnetic
fields. An exact analytical, physically transparent expression for the quartic
term in the corresponding order parameter expansion is presented. The resulting
expression reveals singular non-local contributions to the superconducting (SC)
free energy, associated with highly coherent cyclotron motions of the paired
electrons near the Fermi surface, which are strongly coupled to the vortex
lattice. A major part of these contributions arises from incoherent scattering
by the spatially averaged pair-potential, which is purely harmonic in the de
Haas van Alphen frequency. However, coherent scatterings by the ordered vortex
lattice generate, at low temperatures, large erratically oscillating (i.e.
paramagnetic-diamagnetic) contribution to the SC free energy as a function of
the magnetic field. Vortex lattice disorder, which tends to suppress this
oscillatory component, is found to preserve the singular harmonic part of the
SC free energy
Coherence in the Quasi-Particle 'Scattering' by the Vortex Lattice in Pure Type-II Superconductors
The effect of quasi-particle (QP) 'scattering' by the vortex lattice on the
de-Haas van-Alphen oscillations in a pure type-II superconductor is
investigated within mean field,asymptotic perturbation theory. Using a 2D
electron gas model it is shown that, due to a strict phase coherence in the
many-particle correlation functions, the 'scattering' effect in the asymptotic
limit () is much weaker than what is predicted
by the random vortex lattice model proposed by Maki and Stephen, which destroys
this coherence . The coherent many particle configuration is a collinear array
of many particle coordinates, localized within a spatial region with size of
the order of the magnetic length. The amplitude of the magnetization
oscillations is sharply damped just below because of strong
out of phase magnetic oscillations in the superconducting
condensation energy ,which tend to cancel the normal electron oscillations.
Within the ideal 2D model used it is found, however, that because of the
relative smallness of the quartic and higher order terms in the expansion, the
oscillations amplitude at lower fields does not really damp to zero, but only
reverses sign and remains virtually undamped well below . This
conclusion may be changed if disorder in the vortex lattice, or vortex lines
motion will be taken into account. The reduced QP 'scattering' effect may be
responsible for the apparent crossover from a strong damping of the dHvA
oscillations just below to a weaker damping at lower fields observed
experimentally in several 3D superconductors.Comment: 26 pages, Revtex no Figure
Ginzburg-Landau-Gor'kov Theory of Magnetic oscillations in a type-II 2-dimensional Superconductor
We investigate de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations in the mixed state of a
type-II two-dimensional superconductor within a self-consistent Gor'kov
perturbation scheme. Assuming that the order parameter forms a vortex lattice
we can calculate the expansion coefficients exactly to any order. We have
tested the results of the perturbation theory to fourth and eight order against
an exact numerical solution of the corresponding Bogoliubov-de Gennes
equations. The perturbation theory is found to describe the onset of
superconductivity well close to the transition point . Contrary to
earlier calculations by other authors we do not find that the perturbative
scheme predicts any maximum of the dHvA-oscillations below . Instead we
obtain a substantial damping of the magnetic oscillations in the mixed state as
compared to the normal state. We have examined the effect of an oscillatory
chemical potential due to particle conservation and the effect of a finite
Zeeman splitting. Furthermore we have investigated the recently debated issue
of a possibility of a sign change of the fundamental harmonic of the magnetic
oscillations. Our theory is compared with experiment and we have found good
agreement.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figures. This is a replacement of supr-con/9608004.
Several sections changed or added, including a section on the effect of spin
and the effect of a conserved number of particles. To be published in Phys.
Rev.
Massive Spin Collective Mode in Quantum Hall Ferromagnet
It is shown that the collective spin rotation of a single Skyrmion in quantum
Hall ferromagnet can be regarded as precession of the entire spin texture in
the external magnetic field, with an effective moment of inertia which becomes
infinite in the zero g-factor limit. This low-lying spin excitation may
dramatically enhance the nuclear spin relaxation rate via the hyperfine
interaction in the quantum well slightly away from filling factor equal one.Comment: 4 page
Far-field e-beam detection of hybrid cavity-plasmonic modes in gold micro-holes
Manipulation of light-beams with subwavelenth metallic devices has motivated
intensive studies, following the discovery of extraordinary transmission of
electromagnetic waves through sub-wavelength apertures in thin noble-metal
films. The propagation of light in these holes can be investigated at greately
improved spatial resolution by means of focused electron-beams. Here we
demonstrate direct e-beam excitation of radiative cavity modes well below the
surface plasmon (SP) frequency, of isolated rectangular holes in gold films,
illuminating the hotly debated phenomenon of the extraordinary optical
transmission through subwavelength holes. The exceptionally long range e-beam
interaction with the metal through the vacuum, involving electromagnetic
excitations within the light cone, is allowed by momentum conservation
breakdown along the e-beam axis. Two types of lowlying excited modes are
revealed: radiative cavity modes which are nearly unaffected by SPs, and SP
polariton modes with waveguide character in the near field region of the slit
walls, which in spite of the strong hybridization preserve the waveguide cutoff
frequencies and symmetry characteristics.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Absence of Persistent Magnetic Oscillations in Type-II Superconductors
We report on a numerical study intended to examine the possibility that
magnetic oscillations persist in type II superconductors beyond the point where
the pairing self-energy exceeds the normal state Landau level separation. Our
work is based on the self-consistent numerical solution for model
superconductors of the Bogoliubov-deGennes equations for the vortex lattice
state. In the regime where the pairing self-energy is smaller than the
cyclotron energy, magnetic oscillations resulting from Landau level
quantization are suppressed by the broadening of quasiparticle Landau levels
due to the non-uniform order parameter of the vortex lattice state, and by
splittings of the quasiparticle bands. Plausible arguments that the latter
effect can lead to a sign change of the fundamental harmonic of the magnetic
oscillations when the pairing self-energy is comparable to the cyclotron energy
are shown to be flawed. Our calculations indicate that magnetic oscillations
are strongly suppressed once the pairing self-energy exceeds the Landau level
separation.Comment: 7 pages, revtex, 7 postscript figure
Vortex states in 2D superconductor at high magnetic field in a periodic pinning potential
The effect of a periodic pinning array on the vortex state in a 2D
superconductor at low temperatures is studied within the framework of the
Ginzburg-Landau approach. It is shown that attractive interaction of vortex
cores to a commensurate pin lattice stabilizes vortex solid phases with long
range positional order against violent shear fluctuations. Exploiting a simple
analytical method, based on the Landau orbitals description, we derive a rather
detailed picture of the low temperatures vortex state phase diagram. It is
predicted that for sufficiently clean samples application of an artificial
periodic pinning array would enable one to directly detect the intrinsic shear
stiffness anisotropy characterizing the ideal vortex lattice.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Counting defects with the two-point correlator
We study how topological defects manifest themselves in the equal-time
two-point field correlator. We consider a scalar field with Z_2 symmetry in 1,
2 and 3 spatial dimensions, allowing for kinks, domain lines and domain walls,
respectively. Using numerical lattice simulations, we find that in any number
of dimensions, the correlator in momentum space is to a very good approximation
the product of two factors, one describing the spatial distribution of the
defects and the other describing the defect shape. When the defects are
produced by the Kibble mechanism, the former has a universal form as a function
of k/n, which we determine numerically. This signature makes it possible to
determine the kink density from the field correlator without having to resort
to the Gaussian approximation. This is essential when studying field dynamics
with methods relying only on correlators (Schwinger-Dyson, 2PI).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures
Low-Temperature Specific Heat of an Extreme-Type-II Superconductor at High Magnetic Fields
We present a detailed study of the quasiparticle contribution to the
low-temperature specific heat of an extreme type-II superconductor at high
magnetic fields. Within a T-matrix approximation for the self-energies in the
mixed state of a homogeneous superconductor, the electronic specific heat is a
linear function of temperature with a linear- coefficient
being a nonlinear function of magnetic field . In the range of magnetic
fields H\agt (0.15-0.2)H_{c2} where our theory is applicable, the calculated
closely resembles the experimental data for the borocarbide
superconductor YNiBC.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Density of states of a type-II superconductor in a high magnetic field: Impurity effects
We have calculated the density of states of a dirty but
homogeneous superconductor in a high magnetic field. We assume a dilute
concentration of scalar impurities and find how behaves as one
crosses from the weak scattering to the strong scattering limit. At low
energies, for small values of the impurity
concentration and scattering strength. When the disorder becomes stronger than
some critical value, a finite density of states is created at the Fermi
surface. These results are a consequence of the gapless nature of the
quasiparticle excitation spectrum in a high magnetic field.Comment: 20 pages in RevTeX, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B (July 1,
1997
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