Anisotropic s-wave superconductivity: comparison with experiments on MgB2 single crystals

The recently discovered superconductivity in MgB2 has captured world attention due to its simple crystal structure and relatively high superconducting transition temperature Tc=39K. It appears to be generally accepted that it is phonon-mediated s-wave BCS-like superconductivity. Surprisingly, the strongly temperature dependent anisotropy of the upper critical field, observed experimentally in magnesium diboride single crystals, is still lacking a consistent theoretical explanation. We propose a simple single-gap anisotropic s-wave order parameter in order to compare its implications with the prediction of a multi-gap isotropic s-wave model. The quasiparticle density of states, thermodynamic properties, NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate, optical conductivity, and Hc2 anisotropy have been analyzed within this anisotropic s-wave model. We show that the present model can capture many aspects of the unusual superconducting properties of MgB2 compound, though more experimental data appear to be necessary from single crystal MgB2.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, some minor changes, to appear in Europhys. Let

Anisotropic critical fields of MgB2 single crystals

The recently discovered superconductivity in MgB2 has created the world sensation. In spite of the relatively high superconducting transition temperature Tc=39K, the superconductivity is understood in terms of rare two gap superconductor with energy gaps attached to the sigma- and pi-band. However, this simple model cannot describe the temperature dependent anisotropy in H_c2 or the temperature dependence of the anisotropic magnetic penetration depth. Here we propose a model with two anisotropic energy gaps with different shapes. Indeed the present model describes a number of pecularities of MgB2 which have been revealed only recently through single crystal MgB2.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Acta Physica Polonica B, proceedings of the International Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems, SCES2002, Krakow, Polan

Ginzburg-Landau Expansion and the Slope of the Upper Critical Field in Disordered Superconductors with Anisotropic Pairing

It is demonstrated that the slope of the upper critical field $|dH_{c2}/dT|_{T_{c}}$ in superconductors with $d$-wave pairing drops rather fast with concentration of normal impurities, while in superconductors with anisotropic $s$-wave pairing $|dH_{c2}/dT|_{T_{c}}$ grows, and in the limit of strong disorder is described by the known dependences of the theory of ``dirty'' superconductors. This allows to use the measurements of $H_{c2}$ in disordered superconductors to discriminate between these different types of pairing in high-temperature and heavy-fermion superconductors.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX 3.0, 4 Postscript figures attached; Submitted to JETP Letter

Singular conductance of a spin 1 quantum dot

We interpret the recent observation of a zero-bias anomaly in spin-1 quantum dots in terms of an underscreened Kondo effect. Although a spin-1 quantum dots are expected to undergo a two-stage quenching effect, in practice the log normal distribution of Kondo temperatures leads to a broad temperature region dominated by underscreened Kondo physics. General arguments, based on the asymptotic decoupling between the partially screened moment and the leads, predict a singular temperature and voltage dependence of the conductance $G$ and differential conductance $g$, resulting in $dg/dT\sim 1/T$ and $dG/dV \sim 1/V$. Using a Schwinger boson approach, we show how these qualitative expectations are borne out in a detailed many body calculation.Comment: Four pages, four figures. Paper revised with additional references added in response to feedback from reader

Conductance of a spin-1 quantum dot: the two-stage Kondo effect

We discuss the physics of a of a spin-1 quantum dot, coupled to two metallic leads and develop a simple model for the temperature dependence of its conductance. Such quantum dots are described by a two-channel Kondo model with asymmetric coupling constants and the spin screening of the dot by the leads is expected to proceed via a two-stage process. When the Kondo temperatures of each channel are widely separated, on cooling, the dot passes through a broad cross-over regime dominated by underscreened Kondo physics. A singular, or non-fermi liquid correction to the conductance develops in this regime. At the lowest temperatures, destructive interference between resonant scattering in both channels leads to the eventual suppression of the conductance of the dot. We develop a model to describe the growth, and ultimate suppression of the conductance in the two channel Kondo model as it is screened successively by its two channels. Our model is based upon large-N approximation in which the localized spin degrees of freedom are described using the Schwinger boson formalism.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Ginzburg-Landau Expansion in a Toy Model of Superconductor with Pseudogap

We propose a toy model of electronic spectrum of two-dimensional system with ``hot-patches'' on the Fermi surface, which leads to essential renormalization of spectral density (pseudogap). Within this model we derive Ginzburg-Landau expansion for both s-wave and d-wave Cooper pairing and analyze the influence of pseudogap formation on the basic properties of superconductors.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, RevTeX 3.0, Postscript figures attached, some changes in the explanation of the model, published in JETP 115, No.2, (1999

Anomalous microwave conductivity coherence peak in c-axis MgB2 thin film

The temperature dependence of the real part of the microwave complex conductivity at 17.9 GHz obtained from surface impedance measurements of two c-axis oriented MgB2 thin films reveals a pronounced maximum at a temperature around 0.6 times the critical temperature. Calculations in the frame of a two-band model based on Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory suggest that this maximum corresponds to an anomalous coherence peak resembling the two-gap nature of MgB2. Our model assumes there is no interband impurity scattering and a weak interband pairing interaction, as suggested by bandstructure calculations. In addition, the observation of a coherence peak indicates that the pi-band is in the dirty limit and dominates the total conductivity of our filmsComment: 10 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let