Publication
Title
Parity-fluctuation induced enlargement of the ratio $\Delta_{E}/k_{B}T_{c}$ in metallic grains
Author
Abstract
 We investigate how the interplay of quantum confinement and particle number-parity fluctuations affects superconducting correlations in ultra-small metallic grains. Using the number-parity projected BCS formalism we calculate the critical temperature and the excitation gap as a function of the grain size for grains with even and odd number of confined carriers. We show that the experimentally observed anomalous increase of the coupling ratio ΔE/kBTc with decreasing superconducting grain size can be attributed to an enhancement of the number-parity fluctuations in ultra-small grains.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Physical review : B : condensed matter and materials physics. - Lancaster, Pa, 1998 - 2015
Publication
Lancaster, Pa : 2011
ISSN
1098-0121 [print]
1550-235X [online]
Volume/pages
84:21(2011), p. 214518,1-214518,12
Article Reference
214518
ISI
000298114100003
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
 Faculty/Department Research group Publication type Subject Affiliation Publications with a UAntwerp address