2 research outputs found
Nernst effect as a probe of superconducting fluctuations in disordered thin films
In amorphous superconducting thin films of and ,
a finite Nernst coefficient can be detected in a wide range of temperature and
magnetic field. Due to the negligible contribution of normal quasi-particles,
superconducting fluctuations easily dominate the Nernst response in the entire
range of study. In the vicinity of the critical temperature and in the
zero-field limit, the magnitude of the signal is in quantitative agreement with
what is theoretically expected for the Gaussian fluctuations of the
superconducting order parameter. Even at higher temperatures and finite
magnetic field, the Nernst coefficient is set by the size of superconducting
fluctuations. The Nernst coefficient emerges as a direct probe of the ghost
critical field, the normal-state mirror of the upper critical field. Moreover,
upon leaving the normal state with fluctuating Cooper pairs, we show that the
temperature evolution of the Nernst coefficient is different whether the system
enters a vortex solid, a vortex liquid or a phase-fluctuating superconducting
regime.Comment: Submitted to New. J. Phys. for a focus issue on "Superconductors with
Exotic Symmetries
Fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter as an origin of the Nernst effect
We show that the strong Nernst signal observed recently in amorphous
superconducting films far above the critical temperature is caused by the
fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. We demonstrate a striking
agreement between our theoretical calculations and the experimental data at
various temperatures and magnetic fields. Besides, the Nernst effect is
interesting not only in the context of superconductivity. We discuss some
subtle issues in the theoretical study of thermal phenomena that we have
encountered while calculating the Nernst coefficient. In particular, we explain
how the Nernst theorem (the third law of thermodynamics) imposes a strict
constraint on the magnitude of the Nernst effect.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, extended versio