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Published on: August 2, 2019
Gapless excitations in strongly fluctuating superconducting wires
Dganit Meidan1, Bernd Rosenow, Yuval Oreg
1Dahlem Center for Complex Quantum Systems and Institut für Theoretische Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
Physical Review Letters
|December 21, 2011
Summary
We discovered a novel conducting phase in thin wires, challenging the insulating model. This phase exhibits a gapless spectrum and conductivity that decreases linearly with temperature, driven by electron interactions.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Phenomena
Background:
- Superconductivity in thin wires is destroyed by quantum phase-slip proliferation.
- This regime is often presumed to behave as an insulator at low temperatures.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the low-temperature tunneling density of states in thin wires.
- Characterize the electrical transport properties of wires where superconductivity is suppressed.
Main Methods:
- Studying the tunneling density of states.
- Analyzing conductivity as a function of temperature.
- Examining the excitation spectrum.
Main Results:
- A novel conducting phase exists over a large temperature range.
- Conductivity decreases at most linearly with temperature.
- The excitation spectrum is gapless, not insulating.
Conclusions:
- Electron-electron interactions induce pair breaking, creating this conducting phase.
- This finding clarifies low-temperature metallic behavior in superconducting films and wires.
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