Superconductivity

PeterSchmu¨ser
Institutfu¨rExperimentalphysikderUniversita¨t Hamburg
Abstract
Low-temperature superconductivity is treated at an introductory level. The
topics include Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect and London equations, thermody-
namic properties of the superconducting state, type I and II superconductors,
flux quantisation, superconductors in microwave fields and superconducting
quantuminterferenceeffects. Importantexperimentsarediscussed. Thebasic
ideasoftheBCStheoryanditsimplicationsareoutlined.
1. INTRODUCTION
In these lectures I want to give an introduction into the physicalprinciples of
superconductivity and its
fascinating properties. More detailed accounts can be found in the excellent text books by
W. Buckel
[1] and by D.R. Tilley and J. Tilley [2]. Superconductivity was discovered [3] in 1911 by the
Dutch
physicistH.KamerlinghOnnes,onlythreeyearsafterhehadsucceededinliquefyinghelium.
Duringhis
investigationsontheconductivity
ofmetalsatlowtemperaturehefoundthattheresistanceofamercury
sample dropped to an unmeasurably small value just at the boiling temperature of liquid
helium. The
originalmeasurementisshowninFig. 1.
KamerlinghOnnescalledthistotallyunexpectedphenomenon
‘superconductivity’ andthisnamehasbeenretainedsince.
Thetemperatureatwhichthetransitiontook
placewascalledthecriticaltemperatureT .
Superconductivityisobservedinalargevarietyofmaterials
c
but, remarkably, not in some of the best normal conductors like copper, silver and gold,
except at very
highpressures. ThisisillustratedinFig. 2wheretheresistivityofcopper,tinandthe‘high-
temperature’
superconductor YBa Cu O is sketched as a function of temperature. Table 1 lists some
important
237
superconductorstogetherwiththeircriticaltemperaturesatvanishingmagneticfield.
Fig.1:ThediscoveryofsuperconductivitybyKamerlinghOnnes.

Fig.2:Thelow-temperatureresistivityofcopper,tinandYBa2Cu3O7.
Table1:Thecriticaltemperatureofsomecommonmaterialsatvanishingmagneticfield.
material Ti Al Hg Sn Pb Nb NbTi Nb Sn
3
T [K] 0:4 1:14 4:15 3:72 7:9 9:2 9:2 18
c
A conventional resistance measurement is far too insensitive to establish infinite
conductivity,
a much better method consists in inducing a current in a ring and determining the decay
rate of the
producedmagnetic field. A schematicexperimental setup is shown in Fig. 3. A bar magnet is
inserted
in the still normal-conducting ring and removed after cooldown below T . The induced
current should
c
decayexponentially
I(t) = I(0)exp( t=(cid:28))
(cid:0)
with the time constant given by the ratio of inductivity and resistance, (cid:28) = L=R, which
for a normal
metalringisintheorderof100(cid:22)s.
Insuperconductingrings,however,timeconstantsofupto105 years
havebeenobserved[4]sotheresistancemustbeatleast15ordersofmagnitudebelowthatofcoppe
rand
isindeedindistinguishablefromzero.
Animportantpracticalapplicationofthismethodistheoperation
of solenoid coils for magnetic resonance imaging in the short-circuit mode which exhibit an
extremely
slowdecayofthefieldoftypically3 10(cid:0)9 perhour[5].
(cid:1)
Fig.3:Inductionofapersistentcurrentinasuperconductingring.

Thereisan intimaterelationbetweensuperconductivity andmagneticfields. W.MeissnerandR.

Ochsenfeld[6]discoveredin1933thatasuperconductingelementlikeleadcompletelyexpelleda
weak
magnetic field from its interior when cooled below T while in strong fields
superconductivity broke
c
down and the material went to the normal state. The spontaneous exclusion of magnetic
fields upon
crossing T could not be explained in terms of the Maxwell equations and indeed turned out
to be a
c
non-classical phenomenon. Two years later, H. and F. London [7] proposed an equation
which offered
a phenomenological explanation of the Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect but the justification of
the London
equation remained obscure until the advent of the Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer theory
[8] of super-
conductivityin1957.
TheBCStheoryrevolutionizedourunderstandingofthisfascinatingphenomenon.
Itisbasedontheassumptionthatthesupercurrentisnotcarriedbysingleelectronsbutratherbypa
irsof
electronsofoppositemomentaandspins,theso-calledCooperpairs.
Allpairsoccupyasinglequantum
state,theBCSgroundstate,whoseenergy isseparatedfromthesingle-electronstatesbyanenergy
gap
whichinturncanberelatedtothecriticaltemperature.
TheBCStheoryhasturnedouttobeofenormous
predictivepowerandmanyofitspredictionsandimplicationslikethetemperaturedependenceof
theen-
ergy gap and its relation to the criticaltemperature, the quantisation of magnetic flux and
the existence
ofquantuminterferencephenomenahavebeenconfirmedbyexperimentand,inmanycases,even
found
practicalapplication.
A discovery of enormous practical consequences was the finding that there exist two types
of
superconductorswithratherdifferent responseto magneticfields. The elementslead,
mercury, tin,alu-
minium and others are called ‘type I’ superconductors. They do not admit a magnetic field in
the bulk
materialandareinthesuperconductingstateprovidedtheappliedfieldisbelowacriticalfieldH
which
c
isafunctionoftemperature. Allsuperconductingalloyslikelead-indium,niobium-
titanium,niobium-tin
and also the element niobium belong to the large class of ‘type II’ superconductors. They are
charac-
terizedbytwocriticalfields,H andH . Below H thesesubstancesarein theMeissnerphasewith
c1 c2 c1
completefieldexpulsionwhilein therangeH < H < H a typeII superconductorentersthemixed
c1 c2
phase in which magneticfield can penetratethebulk material in the form of flux tubes. The
Ginzburg-
Landau theory [9] provides a theoretical basis for the distinction between the two types.
Around 1960
Gorkov [10] showed that the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory is a limiting case
of the BCS
theory. Abrikosov [11] predicted that the flux tubes in a type II superconductor arrange
themselves in
a triangular pattern which was confirmed in a beautiful experiment by Essmann and
Tra¨uble [12]. In
1962 Josephson [13] studied the quantum theoretical tunnel effect in a system of two
superconductors
separatedbyathininsulatinglayerandhepredictedpeculiarandfascinatingpropertiesofsuchaJo
seph-
sonjunction whichwereallconfirmedbyexperimentandopenedthe wayto
superconductingquantum
interferencedevices(SQUID’s)withextremesensitivitytotinymagneticfields.
2. MEISSNER-OCHSENFELDEFFECTANDLONDONEQUATION
Weconsideracylinderwithperfectconductivityandraiseamagneticfieldfromzerotoafinitevalue
H.
A surface current is induced whose magnetic field, according to Lenz’s rule, is opposed to
the applied
field and cancels it in the interior. Since the resistance is zero the current will continue to
flow with
constantstrengthaslongastheexternalfieldiskept constantandconsequentlythebulk
ofthecylinder
will stay field-free. This is exactly what happens if we expose a lead cylinder in the
superconducting
state(T < T )toanincreasingfield,seethepath(a) (c)inFig. 4. SobelowT leadactsasaperfect
cc
!
diamagnetic material. There is, however, another path leading to the point (c). We start with
a lead
cylinderin the normalstate (T > T ) and expose it to a fieldwhich is increasedfrom zero to H.
Eddy
c
currents are induced in this case as well but they decay rapidly and after a few hundred
microseconds
the field lines will fully penetrate the material (state (b) in Fig. 4). Now the cylinder is
cooled down.
At the very instant the temperature drops below T , a surface current is spontaneously
created and the
c
magnetic field is expelled from the interior of the cylinder. This surprising observation is
called the

Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect afteritsdiscoverers; it cannotbe explained bythe law of

inductionbecause
themagneticfieldiskeptconstant.
Fig.4:Aleadcylinderinamagneticfield. Twopossiblewaystoreachthesuperconductingfinal
statewithH >0aresketched.
Ideallythelengthofthecylindershouldbemuchlargerthanitsdiametertogetavanishingdemagne
tisationfactor.
In a (T;H) plane, the superconducting phase is separated from the normal phase by the
curve
H (T) as sketched in Fig. 5. Also indicatedare the two ways on which one can reachthe point
(c). It
c
is instructive to compare this with the response of a ‘normal’ metal of perfect conductivity.
The field
increase along the path (a) (c) would yield the same result as for the superconductor,
however the
!
cooldown along the path (b) (c) would have no effect at all. So superconductivity means
definitely
!
morethanjustvanishingresistance.
Fig.5:Thephasediagramina(T;H)plane.
I have already used the terms ‘superconducting phase’ and ‘normal phase’ to characterize
the
two states of lead. These are indeed phases in the thermodynamical sense, comparable to
the different
phases of H O which is in the solid, liquid or gaseous state depending on the values of the
parameters
2
temperature and pressure. Here the relevant parameters are temperature and magnetic
field (for some
materialsalsopressure). Ifthepoint(T;H)liesbelowthecurveH
(T)thematerialissuperconducting
c
and expels the magnetic field, irrespective of by which path the point was reached. If (T;H)
is above
thecurvethematerialisnormal-conducting.
ThefirstsuccessfulexplanationoftheMeissner-Ochsenfeldeffectwasachievedin1935byHeinz
andFritzLondon.
Theyassumedthatthesupercurrentiscarriedbyafractionoftheconductionelectrons
inthemetal. The‘super-
electrons’experiencenofriction,sotheirequationofmotioninanelectricfield
is
@~v
m = eE~ :
e
@t (cid:0)

Thisleadstoanacceleratedmotion. Thesupercurrentdensityis
J~ = en ~v
ss
(cid:0)
wheren isthedensityofthesuper-electrons. Thisimmediatelyyieldstheequation
s
@J~ n e2
s = s E~ : (1)
@t m
e
NowoneusestheMaxwellequation
@B~
~ E~ =
r(cid:2) (cid:0) @t
andtakesthecurl(rotation)of(1)toobtain
@m
e ~ J~ +B~ = 0:
@t n e2r(cid:2) s
(cid:18) s (cid:19)
Since the time derivative vanishes the quantity in the brackets must be a constant. Up to this
point the
derivationisfullycompatiblewithclassicalelectromagnetism,appliedtothefrictionlessaccelerat
ionof
electrons.
Anexamplemightbethemotionofelectronsinthevacuumofatelevisiontubeorinacircular
accelerator. Theessentialnew assumptionH.andF.Londonmadeis thatthebracket isnotan
arbitrary
constantbutisidenticaltozero. ThenoneobtainstheimportantLondonequation
n e2
~ J~ = s B~ : (2)
s
r(cid:2) (cid:0) m
e
Itshouldbenotedthatthisassumptioncannotbejustifiedwithinclassicalphysics,evenworse,in
generalitiswrong.
Forinstancethecurrentdensityinanormalmetalwillvanishwhennoelectricfieldis
applied,andwhetherastaticmagneticfieldpenetratesthemetalisofnoimportance.
Inasuperconductor
of type I, on the other hand, the situation is such that Eq. (2) applies. Combining the fourth
Maxwell
equation(fortime-independentfields)
~ B~ = (cid:22) J~
0s
r(cid:2)
andtheLondonequationandmakinguseoftherelation
~ (~ B~) = 2B~
r(cid:2) r(cid:2) (cid:0)r
(thisisvalidsince ~ B~ =
0)wegetthefollowingequationforthemagneticfieldinasuperconductor
r(cid:1)
(cid:22) n e2
2B~ 0 s B~ = 0: (3)
r (cid:0) m
e
Itisimportanttonotethatthisequationisnotvalidinanormalconductor.
Inordertograspthesignifi-
cance of Eq. (3) we consider a simplegeometry, namely the boundarybetween a
superconductinghalf
spaceandvacuum,seeFig. 6a. Then,foramagneticfieldparalleltothesurface,Eq. (3)becomes
d2B 1
y
B=0
dx2 (cid:0) (cid:21)2 y
L
withthesolution
B (x)= B exp( x=(cid:21) ) :
y0L
(cid:0)
Herewehaveintroducedaveryimportantsuperconductorparameter,
theLondonpenetrationdepth
m
e
(cid:21) = : (4)
L (cid:22) n e2
0s
r

Sothemagneticfielddoesnotstopabruptlyatthesuperconductorsurfacebutpenetratesintothem
aterial
with exponential attenuation. For typicalmaterial parameters the penetration depth is quite
small, 20 –
50nm.
Inthebulkofathicksuperconductortherecanbenomagneticfield,whichisjusttheMeissner-
Ochsenfeldeffect. Hereitis appropriateto remarkthat intheBCStheorynotsingleelectronsbut
pairs
ofelectronsarethecarriersofthesupercurrent. Theirmassism = 2m ,theircharge
2e,theirdensity
ce
(cid:0)
n = n =2. Obviously the penetration depth remains unchanged when going from single
electrons to
cs
Cooperpairs.
Wehave now convinced ourselves thatthesuperconductorcantolerateamagneticfield onlyin
a
thinsurfacelayer(thisisthecasefortypeIsuperconductors).
Animmediateconsequenceisthatcurrent
flow is restricted to the same thin layer. Currents in the interior are forbidden as they would
generate
magnetic fields in the bulk. The magnetic field and the current which are caused by an
external field
parallel to the axis of a lead cylinder are plotted in Fig. 6b. Another interesting situation
occurs if we
pass a current through a lead wire (Fig. 6c). It flows only in a very thin surface sheet of
about 20 nm
thickness,sotheoverallcurrentinthewireissmall.
ThisisafirstindicationthattypeIsuperconductors
arenotsuitableforwindingsuperconductingmagnetcoils.
Fig.6:(a)Exponentialattenuationofamagneticfield inasuperconductinghalfplane.
(b)Shieldingcurrentinasuperconduct-
ingcylinderinducedbyafield paralleltotheaxis.(c)Acurrent-
carryingwiremadefromatypeIsuperconductor.
The penetrationdepth has a temperaturedependencewhich can be calculated in the
BCStheory.
When approaching the critical temperature, the density of the supercurrent carriers goes to
zero, so (cid:21)
L
mustbecomeinfinite:
(cid:21) for T T :
Lc
!1 !
ThisisshowninFig. 7.
Aninfinitepenetrationdepthmeansnoattenuationofamagneticfieldwhichis
justwhatoneobservesinanormalconductor.

Fig.7:TemperaturedependenceoftheLondonpenetrationdepth.
3. THERMODYNAMICPROPERTIESOFSUPERCONDUCTORS
3.1 Thesuperconductingphase
AmateriallikeleadgoesfromthenormalintothesuperconductingstatewhenitiscooledbelowT
and
c
whenthemagneticfieldislessthanH (T).
Ithasbeenmentionedalreadythatthisisaphasetransition
c
(cid:14)
comparableto thetransitionfromwaterto ice at 0 C andnormalpressure. Phase
transitionstake place
whenthenewstateisenergeticallyfavoured.
TherelevantthermodynamicenergyisheretheGibbsfree
energy(seeAppendixA)
G = U T S (cid:22) M~ H~ (5)
0
(cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:1)
where U is the internal energy, S the entropy and M the magnetisation of the
superconductor (the
magneticmoment per unit volume). A measurent of the free energy of aluminium is shown
in Fig. 8a.
BelowT
thesuperconductingstatehasalowerfreeenergythanthenormalstateandthusthetransition
c
normal superconductingisassociatedwithagaininenergy.
Theentropyofthesuperconductingstate
!
islowerbecausethereisahigherdegreeoforderinthisstate.
FromthepointofviewoftheBCStheory
this is quiteunderstandablesince theconduction electronsare pairedand collectthemselves
in a single
quantum state. Numerically the entropy difference is small, though, about 1 milli-Joule per
mole and
Kelvin, from which one can deduce that only a small fraction of the valence electrons of
aluminium is
condensed into Cooper pairs. It should be noted, that also normal conduction is carried by
just a small
fractionofthevalenceelectrons,seesect. 4.1.
Fig.8: (a)Freeenergy ofaluminium inthenormal and superconductingstateas afunctionofT
(afterN.E.Phillips). The
normalstatewasachievedbyexposingthesampletoafield largerthanHc
whilethesuperconductingstatewasmeasuredat
H =0.(b)SchematicsketchofthefreeenergiesGnormandGsupasafunctionoftheappliedfield B
=(cid:22)0H.
3.2 Energybalanceinamagneticfield
We have argued that a lead cylinder becomes superconductive for T < T because the free
energy is
c
reducedthatway:
G < G forT < T :
sup norm c
What happens if we apply a magnetic field? A normal-conducting metal cylinder is
penetrated by the
fieldsoitsfreeenergy doesnotchange: G (H) = G (0). Incontrasttothis,asuperconducting
norm norm
cylinderisstronglyaffectedbythefield.
Itsetsupshieldingcurrentswhichgenerateamagneticmoment
m~ antiparalleltotheappliedfield.
Themagneticmomenthasapositivepotentialenergyinthemagnetic
field
E = (cid:22) m~ H~ = +(cid:22) m~ H~ : (6)
pot 0 0
(cid:0) (cid:1) j jj j
InthefollowingitisusefultointroducethemagnetisationM
asthemagneticmomentperunitvolume.
Themagnetisationofasuperconductorinsideacurrent-
carryingcoilresemblesthatofanironcore. The
‘magnetising’fieldHisgeneratedbythecoilcurrentonlyandisunaffectedbythepresenceofamagn
etic
materialwhile themagneticflux density1 B is given bythe superpositionof H andthe
superconductor
magnetisationM:
B~ = (cid:22) (H~ +M~ ) : (7)
0
InthefollowingIwillcallbothH andB magneticfields. ForatypeIsuperconductorwehave
M~ (H~) = H~ andB~ = 0 (8)
(cid:0)
aslongasH < H . Thepotentialenergyperunitvolumeisobtainedbyintegration
c
E = (cid:22) HM~ (H~0) d~H0 = (cid:22) H H02dH0 = (cid:22)0H2 : (9)
pot 0 0
(cid:0) (cid:1) 2
Z0 Z0
This corresponds to the increase in the Gibbs free energy that is caused by the magnetic
field, see Fig.
8b.
(cid:22)
G (H) = G (0)+ 0H2 : (10)
sup sup
2
HereandinthefollowingGdenotestheGibbsfreeenergyperunitvolume.
Thecriticalfieldisachieved
whenthefreeenergyinthesuperconductingstatejustequalsthefreeenergyinthenormalstate
(cid:22)
0H2 = G G (0) : (11)
2 c norm (cid:0) sup
Sincetheenergydensitystoredinamagneticfieldis((cid:22)
=2)H2,analternativeinterpretationofEq. (11)
0
is the following: in order to go from the normal to the superconducting state the material
has to push
out the magnetic energy, and the largest amount it can push out is the difference between
the two free
energies at vanishing field. For H > H the normal phase has a lower energy, so
superconductivity
c
breaksdown.
1ThereisoftenaconfusionwhethertheH ortheB field shouldbeused. Unfortunately,
muchofthesuperconductivity
literatureisbasedontheobsoleteCGSsystemofunitswherethedistinctionbetweenB andH
isnotveryclearandthetwo
fields
havethesamedimensionalthoughtheirunitsweregivendifferentnames:GaussandOerstedt.

3.3 TypeIIsuperconductors
ForpracticalapplicationinmagnetsitwouldberatherunfortunateifonlytypeIsuperconductorse
xisted
whichpermitnomagneticfieldandnocurrentinthebulkmaterial.
Alloysandtheelementniobiumare
so-called type II superconductors. Their magnetisation curves exhibit a more complicated
dependence
on magnetic field (Fig. 9). Type II conductors are characterized by two critical fields, H and
H,
c1 c2
whicharebothtemperaturedependent. Forfields0 < H < H
thesubstanceisintheMeissnerphase
c1
withcompleteexclusionofthefieldfromtheinterior. IntherangeH < H < H thesubstanceenters
c1 c2
themixedphase, oftenalsocalledShubnikov phase:
partofthemagneticfluxpenetratesthebulkofthe
sample. Above H , finally, the materialis normal-conducting. The area underthecurve M =
M(H)
c2
isthesameasforatype Iconductoras itcorrespondsto thefree-energy
differencebetweenthenormal
andthesuperconductingstateandisgivenby((cid:22) =2)H2.
0c
Fig.9:MagnetisationoftypeIandtypeIIsuperconductorsasafunctionofthemagneticfield.
Itisinstructivetocomparemeasureddataonpurelead(typeI)andlead-indiumalloys(typeII)of
various composition. Figure10 shows that the uppercriticalfieldriseswithincreasing
indiumcontent;
forPb-In(20.4%)itisabouteighttimeslarger thanthecriticalfieldof purelead.
Undertheassumption
that the free-energy difference is the same for the various lead-indium alloys, the areas
under the three
curvesA,B,CinFig. 10shouldbeidenticalasthediagramclearlyconfirms.

Fig.10:Themeasuredmagnetisationcurves[14]oflead-
indiumalloysofvariouscomposition,plottedagainstB=(cid:22)0H.
A remarkable feature, which will be addressed in more detail later, is the observation that
the
magneticfluxdoesnotpenetratethetypeIIconductorwithuniformdensity.
Ratheritisconcentratedin
flux tubes as sketched in Fig. 11. Each tube is surrounded with a super-vortex current. The
material in
betweenthetubesisfield-andcurrent-free.
Fig.11:FluxtubesinatypeIIsuperconductor.
Thefactthatalloysstaysuperconductive uptomuchhigherfieldsiseasytounderstand: magnetic
flux is allowed to penetrate the sample and therefore less magnetic field energy has to be
driven out.
Figure 12 shows that a type II superconducting cylinder in the mixed phase has a smaller
magnetic
momentthanatypeIcylinder. ThisimpliesthatthecurveG (H)reachesthelevelG (H) = G
sup sup norm
atafieldH > H .
c2 c
Ina(T;H)planethethreephasesofatypeIIsuperconductorareseparatedbythecurvesH (T)
c1
and H (T) which meetat T = T , see Fig. 13a. The uppercriticalfieldcanassumevery large
values
c2 c
whichmakethesesubstancesextremelyinterestingformagnetcoils(Fig. 13b).

Fig.12: Top: MagneticmomentofatypeI andatypeII sccylinder inafield Hc1 < H < Hc. Bottom:
TheGibbsfree
energiesofbothcylindersasafunctionoffield.
Fig.13: (a)ThephasediagramofatypeIIsuperconductor. (b)Theuppercriticalfield Bc2 =
(cid:22)0Hc2 ofseveralhigh-field
alloysasafunctionoftemperature.
3.4 WhenisasuperconductoroftypeIortypeII?
3.41 ThinsheetsoftypeIsuperconductors
LetusfirststicktotypeIconductorsandcomparethemagneticpropertiesofaverythinsheet(thick
ness
d < (cid:21) )tothoseofathickslab. ThethickslabhasavanishingB fieldinthebulk(Fig.
14a)whileinthe
L

thinsheet(Fig. 14b)theBfielddoesnotdroptozeroatthecentre.
Consequentlylessenergyneedstobe
expelledwhichimpliesthatthecriticalfieldofaverythinsheetismuchlargerthantheB
ofathickslab.
c
Fromthispointofviewitmightappearenergeticallyfavourableforathickslabtosubdivideitselfint
oan
alternating sequence of thin normal and superconductingslices as indicatedin Fig. 14c. The
magnetic
energy is indeed lowered that way but there is another energy to be taken into
consideration, namely
theenergyrequiredtocreatethenormal-superconductor interfaces.
Asubdivisionisonlysensibleifthe
interfaceenergyislessthanthemagneticenergy.
Fig.14: Attenuationoffield (a)inathickslaband(b)inthinsheet.
(c)Subdivisionofathickslabintoalternatinglayersof
normalandsuperconductingslices.
3.42 Coherencelength
Atanormal-
superconductorboundarythedensityofthesupercurrentcarriers(theCooperpairs)doesnot
jumpabruptly fromzero to its value in thebulk but rises smoothlyover a finitelength (cid:24),
thecoherence
length,seeFig. 15.
Fig.15:Theexponentialdropofthemagneticfield andtheriseoftheCooper-
pairdensityataboundarybetweenanormaland
asuperconductor.
The relative size of the London penetration depth and the coherence length decides
whether a
materialisa typeI ora typeII superconductor. Tostudythis ina semi-quantitative way,
wefirstdefine
thethermodynamiccriticalfieldbytheenergyrelation
(cid:22)
0H2 = G G (0) : (12)
2 c norm (cid:0) sup

FortypeIthiscoincideswiththeknownH ,seeEq. (11),whilefortypeIIconductorsH liesbetween

cc
H andH . Thedifferencebetweenthetwofreeenergies, G G (0), canbeintepretedasthe
c1 c2 norm sup
(cid:0)
Cooper-paircondensationenergy.
Foraconductorofunitarea,exposedtoafieldH = H paralleltothesurface,theenergybalance
c
isasfollows:
(a) The magnetic field penetrates a depth (cid:21) of the sample which corresponds to an
energy gain since
L
magneticenergymustnotbedrivenoutofthislayer:
(cid:22)
(cid:1)E = 0H2(cid:21) : (13)
magn 2 c L
(b) On the other hand, the fact that the Cooper-pair density does not assume its full value
right at the
surfacebutrisessmoothlyoveralength(cid:24) impliesalossofcondensationenergy
(cid:22)
(cid:1)E = 0H2(cid:24) : (14)
cond (cid:0) 2 c
Obviously there is a net gain if (cid:21) > (cid:24). So a subdivision of the superconductor
into an alternating
L
sequenceofthinnormalandsuperconductingslicesisenergeticallyfavourableiftheLondonpenet
ration
depthexceedsthecoherencelength.
AmorerefinedtreatmentisprovidedbytheGinzburg-Landautheory[9]. Hereoneintroducesthe
Ginzburg-Landauparameter
(cid:20) = (cid:21) =(cid:24) : (15)
L
ThecriterionfortypeIorIIsuperconductivity isfoundtobe
typeI: (cid:20) <1=p2
typeII: (cid:20) >1=p2.
In reality a type II superconductor is not subdivided into thin slices but the field penetrates
the
sampleinfluxtubeswhicharrangethemselves inatriangularpattern.
Thecoreofafluxtubeisnormal.
Thefollowingtableliststhepenetrationdepthsandcoherencelengthsofsomeimportantsuperco
nduct-
ingelements.
NiobiumisatypeIIconductorbutclosetothebordertotypeI,whileindium,leadandtin
areclearlytypeIconductors.
material In Pb Sn Nb
(cid:21) [nm] 24 32 30 32
L
(cid:25)
(cid:24)[nm] 360 510 170 39
(cid:25)
Thecoherencelength(cid:24) isproportionaltothemeanfreepath ‘oftheconductionelectronsin
themetal.
Thisquantitycanbe large foraverypurecrystalbutis
stronglyreducedbylatticedefectsandimpurity
atoms. In alloys the mean free path is generally much shorter than in pure metals so alloys
are always
typeIIconductors. IntheGinzburg-Landautheorytheuppercriticalfieldisgivenby
(cid:8)
B = p2(cid:20)B = 0 (16)
c2 c 2(cid:25)(cid:24)2
where(cid:8) isthefluxquantum(seesect. 5.2). Forniobium-
titaniumwithanuppercriticalfieldB =10
0 c2
Tat4.2Kthisformulayields(cid:24) = 6nm.
Thecoherencelengthislargerthanthetypicalwidthofagrain
boundary in NbTi which means that the supercurrent can move freely from grain to grain.
In high-T
c
superconductors the coherence length is often shorter than the grain boundary width, and
then current
flow from one grain to the next is strongly impeded. There exists no simple expression for
the lower
criticalfield. Inthelimit(cid:20) 1onegets
(cid:29)
1
B = (ln(cid:20)+0:08)B : (17)
c1 c
2(cid:20)
3.5 Heatcapacityandheatconductivity
Thespecificheatcapacityperunitvolumeatlowtemperaturesisgivenbytheexpression
C (T) = (cid:13)T +AT3 : (18)
V
The linear term in T comes from the conduction electrons, the cubic term from lattice
vibrations. The
coefficientscanbecalculatedwithinthefree-electron-
gasmodelandtheDebyetheoryoflatticespecific
heat(seeanystandardtextbookonsolidstatephysics):
(cid:25)2nk2 12(cid:25)4Nk
(cid:13) = B ; A = B : (19)
2E 5(cid:2)3
FD
Herek = 1:38 10(cid:0)23 J/K is the Boltzmannconstant, E the Fermi energy, n thedensity of
the free
BF
(cid:1)
electrons,N thedensityofthelatticeatomsand(cid:2) theDebyetemperatureofthematerial.
Ifoneplots
D
the ratio C(T)=T as a function of T2 a straight line is obtained as can be seen in Fig. 16a for
normal-
conductinggallium[15].
Inthesuperconductingstatetheelectronicspecificheatisdifferentbecausethe
electronsboundinCooperpairsnolongercontributetoenergytransport.
IntheBCStheoryoneexpects
anexponentialriseoftheelectronicheatcapacitywithtemperature
C (T) = 8:5(cid:13)T exp( 1:44T =T) (20)
e;s c c
(cid:0)
Theexperimentaldata(Fig. 16a,b) arein goodagreementwiththisprediction.
Thereisaresemblance
totheexponentialtemperaturedependenceoftheelectricalconductivity
inintrinsicsemiconductorsand
thesedatacanbetakenasanindicationthatanenergygapexistsalsoinsuperconductors.
Fig.16:(a)Specific heatC(T)=T ofnormalandsuperconductinggalliumasafunctionofT2[15].
(b)Experimentalverifica-
tionofEq.(20).
The heat conductivity of niobium is of particular interest for superconducting radio
frequency
cavities. Herethetheoreticalpredictionsarerather impreciseand
measurementsareindispensible. The
lowtemperaturevaluesdependstronglyontheresidualresistivityratioRRR = R(300K)=R(10K)
of
thenormal-conductingniobium. Figure17showsexperimentaldata[16].

Fig.17:MeasuredheatconductivityinniobiumsampleswithRRR=270andRRR=500asafunction
oftemperature[16].
4. BASICCONCEPTSANDRESULTSOFTHEBCSTHEORY
4.1 The‘freeelectrongas’inanormalmetal
4.11 TheFermisphere
In a metal like copper the positively charged ions form a regular crystal lattice. The valence
electrons
(one per Cu atom) are not bound to specific ions but can move through the crystal. In the
simplest
quantumtheoreticalmodeltheCoulombattractionofthepositive
ionsisrepresentedbyapotentialwell
with a flat bottom, the periodic structure is neglected (taking into account the periodic
lattice potential
leadstotheelectronicbandstructureofsemiconductors).
Theenergylevelsarecomputedbysolvingthe
Schro¨dingerequationwithboundaryconditions,andthentheelectronsareplacedontheselevels
paying
attention to the Pauli exclusion principle: no more than two electrons of opposite spin are
allowed on
eachlevel. Theelectronsaretreatedasindependentandnon-
interactingparticles,theirmutualCoulomb
repulsion is taken into account only globally by a suitable choice of the depth of the
potential well. It
isremarkablethatsuchasimple-
mindedpictureofa‘freeelectrongas’inametalcanindeedreproduce
the main features of electrical and thermal conduction in metals. However, an essential
prerequisite is
to apply the Fermi-Dirac statistics, based on the Pauli principle, and to avoid the classical
Boltzmann
statistics which one uses for normal gases. The electron gas has indeed rather peculiar
properties. The
averagekineticenergyofthemetalelectronsisbynomeansgivenbytheclassicalexpression
m3
e v2 = k T
B
22
which amounts to about 0.025 eV at room temperature. Instead, the energy levels are filled
with two
electrons each up to the Fermi energy E . Since the electron density n is very high in metals,
E
FF
assumes large values, typically 5 eV. The average kinetic energy of an electron is 3=5E 3 eV
and
F
(cid:25)
thus much larger than the average energy of a usual gas molecule. The electrons constitute a
system
calleda‘highlydegenerate’Fermigas. TheFermienergyisgivenbytheformula
~2
E = (3(cid:25)2n)2=3 : (21)
F
2m
e

Fig.18:TheallowedstatesforconductionelectronsinthepxpyplaneandtheFermisphere.
Theoccupiedstatesaredrawnas
fullcircles,theemptystatesasopencircles.
The quantity ~ = h=2(cid:25) = 1:05 10(cid:0)34 Js = 6:58 10(cid:0)15 eVs is Planck’s
constant, the most
(cid:1) (cid:1)
importantconstant in quantum theory. In orderto remind thereader I will shortlysketch
thederivation
of these results. Consider a three-dimensional region in the metal of length L = N a, where a
is the
distance of neighbouring ions in the lattice and N 1 an integer. The Schro¨dinger equation
with
(cid:29)
potentialV = 0andwithperiodicboundaryconditions (x+L;y;z) = (x;y;z)etc. issolvedby
(x;y;z) = L(cid:0)3=2exp(i(k x+k y+k z)) (22)
123
wherethecomponentsofthewavevector~k aregivenby
2(cid:25)
k = n with n = 0; 1; 2;::: (23)
jjj
L (cid:6) (cid:6)
The electron momentum is p~ = ~~k, the energy is E = ~2~k2=(2m ). It is useful to plot the
allowed
e
quantumstatesoftheelectronsasdotsinmomentumspace. InFig.
18thisisdrawnfortwodimensions.
In the groundstate of the metal the energy levels arefilled with two electronseach starting
from
the lowest level. The highest energy level reached is called the Fermi E . At temperature T 0
all
F
!
statesbelowE areoccupied,allstatesaboveE areempty.
Thehighestmomentumiscalledthe‘Fermi
FF
momentum’ p = p2m E , the highest velocity is the Fermi velocity v = p =m which is in the
FeFFFe
orderof106 m/s.
Inthemomentumstaterepresentation,theoccupiedstatesarelocatedinsidethe‘Fermi
sphere’ofradiusp ,theemptystatesareoutside.
F
WhataretheconsequencesofthePauliprincipleforelectricalconduction? Letusapplyanelectric
fieldE~ pointingintothenegativexdirection.
Inthetime(cid:14)tafreeelectronwouldgainamomentum
0
(cid:14)p =eE (cid:14)t: (24)
x0
However,mostofthemetalelectronsareunabletoacceptthismomentumbecausetheydonotfindf
ree
statesintheirvicinity,
onlythoseontherightrimoftheFermispherehavefreestatesaccessibletothem
andcanaccepttheadditionalmomentum.
WeseethatthePauliprinciplehasastrongimpactonelectrical
conduction.
Heatconductionisaffectedinthesamewaybecausethemostimportantcarriersofthermal
energy are againthe electrons. An anomaly is also observed in the heat capacity of the
electron gas. It

differs considerably from that of an atomic normal gas since only the electrons in a shell of
thickness
k T near the surface of the Fermi sphere can contribute. Hence the electronic specific heat
per unit
B
volumeisroughlyafractionk T=E oftheclassicalvalue
BF
3kT
B
C nk :
eB
(cid:25) 2 (cid:1) E
F
Thisexplainsthelineartemperaturedependenceoftheelectronicspecificheat,seeeq. (19).
4.12 TheoriginofOhmicresistance
Before trying to understand the vanishing resistance of a superconductor we have to
explain first why
a normal metal has a resistance. This may appear trivial if one imagines the motion of
electrons in a
crystalthatisdenselyfilledwithions.
Intuitivelyonewouldexpectthattheelectronscantravelforvery
shortdistancesonlybeforehittinganionandtherebyloosingthemomentumgainedintheelectric
field.
Collisionsareindeed responsibleforafrictionalforceandonecanderive Ohm’s lawthatway.
Whatis
surprising is the fact that these collisions are so rare. In an ideal crystal lattice there are no
collisions
whatsoever. This is impossible to understand in the particle picture, one has to treat the
electrons as
matterwavesandsolve theSchro¨dingerequationforaperiodicpotential.
Theresistanceisnevertheless
due to collisions but the collision centres are not the ions in the regular crystal lattice but
only the
imperfections of this lattice: impurities, lattice defects and the deviations of the metal ions
from their
nominal positiondue to thermal oscillations. The thirdeffect dominatesat room
temperatureand gives
rise to a resistivity that is roughlyproportionalto T whileimpuritiesand lattice
defectsareresponsible
for the residual resistivity at low temperature (T < 20 K). A typical curve (cid:26)(T) is
plotted in Fig. 19.
Inverypurecoppercrystalsthelow-temperatureresistivitycanbecomeextremelysmall.
Themeanfree
path of the conduction electrons may be a million times larger than the distance between
neighbouring
ions which illustrates very well that the ions in their regular lattice positions do not act as
scattering
centres.
Fig. 19: Temperature dependence of the resistivity of OFHC (oxygen-free high conductivity)
copper and of 99.999% pure
annealedcopper.
Plottedasadashedlineisthecalculatedresistivityofcopperwithoutanyimpuritiesandlatticedefe
cts(after
M.N.Wilson[17]).
4.2 Cooperpairs
We consider a metal at T 0. All states inside the Fermi sphere are filled with electrons while
all
!
states outside are empty. In 1956 Cooper studied [18] what would happen if two electrons
were added

to the filled Fermi sphere with equal but opposite momenta p~ = p~ whose magnitude was
slightly
12
(cid:0)
largerthantheFermimomentump (seeFig. 20).
Assumingthataweakattractiveforceexistedhewas
F
able to show that the electrons form a bound system with an energy less than twice the
Fermi energy ,
E < 2E . ThemathematicsofCooperpairformationwillbeoutlinedinAppendixB.
pair F
Fig.20:ApairofelectronsofoppositemomentaaddedtothefullFermisphere.
What could be the reason for such an attractive force? First of all one has to realize that the
Coulomb repulsion between the two electrons has a very short range as it is shielded by the
positive
ions and the other electrons in the metal. So the attractive force must not be strong if the
electrons are
several lattice constants apart. Already in 1950, Fro¨hlich and, independently, Bardeen had
suggested
that a dynamical lattice polarization may create a weak attractive potential. Before going
into details
let us look at a familiar example of attraction caused by the deformation of a medium: a
metal ball is
placedonanelasticmembraneanddeformsthemembranesuchthatapotentialwelliscreated.
Asecond
ballwillfeelthispotentialwellandwillbe attractedbyit. Soeffectively, thedeformationof
theelastic
membranecausesanattractiveforcebetweenthetwoballswhichwouldotherwisenotnoticeeach
other.
ThisvisualisationofaCooper-pairiswellknown inthesuperconductivity community(seee.g.
[1])but
ithasthedisadvantagethatitisastaticpicture.
I prefer the following dynamic picture: suppose you are cross-countryskiing in very deep
snow.
You will find this quite cumbersome, there is a lot of ‘resistance’. Now you discover a track
made by
anotherskier,
a‘Loipe’,andyouwillimmediatelyrealizethatitismuchmorecomfortabletoskialong
this track than in any other direction. The Loipe picture can be adopted for our electrons.
The first
electronfliesthroughthelatticeandattractsthepositiveions.
Becauseoftheirinertiatheycannotfollow
immediately, the shortest response time corresponds to the highest possible lattice
vibration frequency.
ThisiscalledtheDebyefrequency ! .
Themaximumlatticedeformationlagsbehindtheelectronbya
D
distance
2(cid:25)
d v 100 1000nm : (25)
F
(cid:25) ! (cid:25) (cid:0)
D

Fig.21:Dynamicaldeformationofthecrystallatticecausedbythepassageofafastelectron.
(AfterIbach,L¨uth[19]).
Obviously,thelatticedeformationattractsthesecondelectronbecausethereisanaccumulationof
positive charge. The attractionis strongestwhen thesecondelectronmoves rightalong
thetrackof the
first one and when it is a distance d behind it, see Fig. 21. This explains why a Cooper pair is
a very
extendedobject,thetwoelectronsmaybeseveral100to1000latticeconstantsapart.
Forasimplecubic
lattice,thelatticeconstantisthedistancebetweenadjacentatoms.
Intheexampleofthecross-countryskiersortheelectronsinthecrystallattice,intuitionsuggests
thatthesecondpartnershouldpreferablyhavethesamemomentum,p~ =p~
althoughoppositemomenta
21
p~ = p~ are not so bad either. Quantum theory makes a unique choice: only electrons of
opposite
21
(cid:0)
momenta form a bound system, a Cooper pair. I don’t know of any intuitive argument why
this is so.
(The quantum theoretical reason is the Pauli principle but there exists probably no intuitive
argument
whyelectronsobeythePauliexclusionprincipleandarethusextremeindividualistswhileotherpa
rticles
like thephotonsin alaseror theatomsin superfluidheliumdojusttheoppositeand behave as
extreme
conformists.
Onemaygetusedtoquantumtheorybutcertainmysteriesandstrangefeelingswillremain.)
ThebindingenergyofaCooperpairturnsouttobesmall,10(cid:0)4
10(cid:0)3eV,solowtemperaturesare
(cid:0)
needed to preserve the binding in spite of the thermal motion. According to Heisenberg’s
Uncertainty
Principle a weak binding is equivalent to a large extension of the composite system, in this
case the
above-mentionedd = 100 1000nm.
Asaconsequence,theCooperpairsinasuperconductoroverlap
(cid:0)
eachother. InthespaceoccupiedbyaCooperpairthereareaboutamillionotherCooperpairs.
Figure
22givesanillustration.
Thesituationistotallydifferentfromothercompositesystemslikeatomicnuclei
or atoms which are tightly bound objects and well-separated from another. The strong
overlap is an
importantprerequisiteoftheBCStheorybecausetheCooperpairsmustchangetheirpartnersfreq
uently
inordertoprovideacontinuousbinding.

Fig. 22: Visualization of Cooper pairs and single electrons in the crystal lattice of a
superconductor. (After Essmann and
Tr¨auble[12]).
4.3 ElementsoftheBCStheory
After Cooper had proved that two electrons added to the filled Fermi sphere are able to
form a bound
system with an energy E < 2E , it was immediately realized by Bardeen, Cooper and
Schrieffer
pair F
thatalsotheelectronsinsidetheFermisphereshouldbeabletogroupthemselvesintopairsandthe
reby
reducetheirenergy. Theattractive
forceisprovidedbylatticevibrationswhosequantaarethephonons.
Thehighestpossiblephononenergyis
~! = k (cid:2) 0:01 0:02 eV: (26)
DBD
(cid:25) (cid:0)
Therefore only a small fraction of the electrons can be paired via phonon exchange, namely
those in
a shell of thickness ~! around the Fermi energy. This is sketched in Fig. 23. The inner
electrons
D
(cid:6)
cannotparticipateinthepairingbecausetheenergy transferbythelatticeis toosmall. Onehasto
keep
inmindthoughthattheseelectronsdonotcontributetonormalconductioneither.
Forvanishingelectric
field a Cooper pair is a loosely bound systemof two electrons whose momenta are of equal
magnitude
butoppositedirection. AllCooperpairshavethereforethesamemomentum P~ = 0andoccupy
exactly
the samequantum state. They canbe describedby a macroscopicwave function(cid:9) in
analogywith the
lightwave in a laserin whichthephotons areallin phaseand have thesamewavelength,
directionand
polarisation. The macroscopic photon wave function is the vector potential from which one
can derive
theelectricandmagneticfieldvectors(seesect. 5.2).

Fig.23:VariousCooperpairs(p~;(cid:0)p~); (p~0;(cid:0)p~0); (p~00;(cid:0)p~00);:::

inmomentumspace.
ThereasonwhyCooperpairsareallowed andeven prefertoenterthesamequantumstateisthat
they behave as Boseparticleswithspin 0. Thisisno contradictionto thefactthat
theirconstituentsare
spin 1/2Fermi particles. Figure 23shows very clearlythat theindividual electronsforming
theCooper
0 00
pairshavedifferentmomentumvectorsp~; p~ ; p~ ;:::
whichhowevercancelpairwisesuchthatthepairs
haveallthesamemomentumzero.
Itshouldbenoted,though,thatCooperpairsdifferconsiderablyfrom
otherBosonssuchasheliumnucleioratoms:
Theyarenot‘small’butveryextendedobjects,theyexist
onlyintheBCSgroundstateandthereisnoexcitedstate. Anexcitationisequivalent
tobreakingthem
upintosingleelectrons.
The BCS ground state is characterized by the macroscopic wave function (cid:9) and a
ground state
energy that is separated from the energy levels of the unpaired electrons by an energy gap.
In order to
breakupapairanenergyof2(cid:1)isneeded,seeFig. 24.
Fig.24: (a)EnergygapbetweentheBCSgroundstateandthesingle-electronstates.
(b)Reductionofenergygapincaseof
currentflow.
There is a certain similarity with the energy gap between the valence band and the
conduction
band in a semiconductor but one important difference is that the energy gap in a
superconductor is not
a constant but depends on temperature. For T T one gets (cid:1)(T) 0. The BCS theory
makes
c
!!
a quantitative prediction for the function (cid:1)(T) which is plotted in Fig. 25 and agrees
very well with
experimentaldata.

Fig.25:TemperaturedependenceoftheenergygapaccordingtotheBCStheoryandcomparisonwi
thexperimentaldata.
One ofthefundamentalformulaeof theBCStheoryistherelationbetweentheenergy gap(cid:1)
(0)
atT = 0,theDebyefrequency ! andtheelectron-latticeinteractionpotentialV :
D0
1
(cid:1)(0) = 2~! exp : (27)
D
(cid:0)V (E )
(cid:18) 0N F (cid:19)
Here (E )isthedensityofsingle-electronstatesofagivenspinorientationatE = E (theotherspin
FF
N
orientationisnotcountedbecauseaCooperpairconsistsoftwoelectronswithoppositespin).
Although
the interaction potential V is assumed to be weak, one of the most striking observations is
that the
0
exponentialfunctioncannotbeexpandedinaTaylorseriesaroundV =
0becauseallcoefficientsvanish
0
identically. ThisimpliesthatEq. (27)isatruelynon-perturbative result.
Thefactthatsuperconductivity
cannot be derived fromnormalconductivity byintroducinga
‘small’interactionpotentialandapplying
perturbation theory (which is the usual method for treating problems of atomic, nuclear
and solid state
physicsthathavenoanalyticalsolution)explainswhyittooksomanydecadestofindthecorrectthe
ory.
Thecriticaltemperatureisgivenbyasimilarexpression
1
k T = 1:14~! exp : (28)
BcD
(cid:0)V (E )
(cid:18) 0N F (cid:19)
Combiningthetwoequationswearriveatarelationbetweentheenergygapandthecriticaltemper
ature
whichdoesnotcontaintheunknowninteractionpotential
(cid:1)(0) = 1:76k T : (29)
Bc
Thefollowingtableshowsthatthisremarkablepredictionisfulfilledratherwell.
element Sn In Tl Ta Nb Hg Pb
(cid:1)(0)=k T 1:75 1:8 1:8 1:75 1:75 2:3 2:15
Bc
IntheBCStheorytheunderlyingmechanismofsuperconductivity istheattractive forcebetween
pairsofelectronsthatisprovidedbylatticevibrations.
Itisofcoursehighlydesirabletofindexperimental
support of this basic hypothesis. According to Eq. (28) the critical temperature is
proportional to the
Debyefrequency whichinturnisinverselyproportionaltothesquarerootoftheatomicmassM:
T ! 1=pM :
cD
//
Ifoneproducessamplesfromdifferentisotopesofasuperconductingelementonecancheckthisre
lation.
Figure26showsT measurementsontinisotopes. Thepredicted1=pM lawisverywellobeyed.
c

Fig.26:Thecriticaltemperatureofvarioustinisotopes.
4.4 Supercurrentandcriticalcurrent
Themostimportanttaskofatheoryofsuperconductivity
isofcoursetoexplainthevanishingresistance.
Wehaveseeninsect.
4.1thattheelectricalresistanceinnormalmetalsiscausedbyscatteringprocesses
so the question is why Cooper pairs do not suffer from scatteringwhile unpaired electrons
do. To start
a currentin thesuperconductor, letus applyan electricfield E~ for ashorttime (cid:14)t.
Bothelectronsof a
0
Cooper pair receive an additional momentum (cid:14)p~ = eE~ (cid:14)t so after the action
of the field all Cooper
0
(cid:0)
pairshavethesamenon-vanishingmomentum
P~ = ~K~ = 2E~ (cid:14)t :
0
(cid:0)
AssociatedwiththiscoherentmotionoftheCooperpairsisasupercurrentdensity
e~
J~ = n K~ : (30)
sc
(cid:0) m
e
Here n is the Cooper-pair density. It can be shown (see e.g. Ibach, Lu¨th [19]) that the
Cooper-pair
c
wave function with a current flowing is simply obtained by multiplying the wave function at
rest with
the phase factor exp(iK~ R~) where R~ = (~r +~r )=2 is the coordinate of the centre of
gravity of the
12
(cid:1)
two electrons. Moreover the electron-lattice interaction potential is not modified by the
current flow.
Soallequationsof theBCStheoryremainapplicableand therewill remainan energy
gapprovidedthe
kinetic-energy gain (cid:14)E of the Cooper pair is less than 2(cid:1), see Fig. 24b. It is this
remaining energy
pair
gap which prevents scattering. As we have seen there are two types of scattering centres:
impurities
andthermallatticevibrations.
Cooperpairscanonlyscatterwhentheygainsufficientenergytocrossthe
energygapandarethenbrokenupintosingleelectrons.
Animpurityisafixedheavytargetandscattering
cannotincreasetheenergyoftheelectronsofthepair,
thereforeimpurityscatteringisprohibitedforthe
Cooperpairs.
Scatteringonthermallatticevibrationsisnegligibleaslongastheaveragethermalenergy
issmallerthantheenergygap(thatmeansaslongasthetemperatureislessthanthecriticaltempera
ture
forthegivencurrentdensity). Sowearriveattheconclusionthatthereisresistance-
freecurrenttransport
provided thereis stillan energy gappresent(2(cid:1) (cid:14)E > 0) and thetemperatureis
sufficiently low
pair
(cid:0)
(T < T (J )).
cs
Thesupercurrentdensityislimitedbytheconditionthattheenergy gain(cid:14)E
mustbelessthan
pair
the energy gap. This leads to the concept of the critical current density J . The energy of the
Cooper
c
pairis,afterapplicationoftheelectricfield,
1 p~2
E = (p~+P~=2)2 +( p~+P~=2)2 = +(cid:14)E
pair pair
2m (cid:0) m
ee
(cid:16) (cid:17)

with(cid:14)E p P=m . Fromthecondition(cid:14)E 2(cid:1)weget

pair F e pair
(cid:25) (cid:20)
J J 2en (cid:1)=p : (31)
sccF
(cid:20) (cid:25)
Coupled to a maximum value of the current density is the existence of a critical magnetic
field. The
currentflowinginalongwireoftypeIsuperconductorisconfinedtoasurfacelayerofthickness(cid:
21) ,see
L
Fig. 6c. ThemaximumpermissiblecurrentdensityJ isrelatedtothecriticalfield:
c
H (T) = (cid:21) J (T) (cid:21) 2en (cid:1)(T)=p : (32)
cLcLcF
(cid:25)
The temperature dependence of the critical field is caused by the temperature dependence
of the gap
energy.
The above considerationsonresistance-freecurrentflowmay appeara bitformal soIwouldlike
to give a more familiar example where an energy gap prevents ‘resistance’ in a generalized
sense. We
comparecrystalsofdiamondandsilicon. Diamondistransparenttovisiblelight,siliconisnot.
Sosilicon
representsa‘resistance’tolight. Whyisthisso?
Bothsubstanceshaveexactlythesamecrystalstructure,
namelythe‘diamondlattice’thatiscomposedoftwoface-
centredcubiclatticeswhicharedisplacedby
onequarteralongthespatialdiagonal.
Thedifferenceisthatdiamondisbuiltupfromcarbonatomsand
is an electrical insulator while a silicon crystal is a semiconductor. In the band theory of
solids there
is an energy gap E between the valence band and the conduction band. The gap energy is
around 7
g
eV for diamond and 1 eV for silicon. Visible light has a quantum energy of about 2.5 eV. A
photon
impinging on a silicon crystal can lift an electron from the valence band to the conduction
band and is
therebyabsorbed.
Thesamephotonimpingingondiamondisunabletosupplytherequiredenergy of7
eV, so this photon simply passes the crystal without absorption: diamond has no ‘resistance’
for light.
(QuantumconditionsofthiskindhavealreadybeenknownintheStoneAge.
Ifhunterswantedtocatch
an antelopethat couldjump2 m high, they woulddig ahole 4 m deepandthen
theanimalcouldnever
getoutbecausebeingabletojump2mintwosuccessiveattemptsisuselessforovercomingthe4m.
The
essentialfeatureofaquantumprocess,namelythattheenergygaphastobebridgedinasingleevent
,is
alreadyapparentinthistrivialexample).
Finally, Iwanttogive an exampleforfrictionlesscurrentflow. Thehexagonal benzenemolecule
C H is formed by covalent binding and contains 24 electrons which are localised in (cid:27)
bonds in the
66
plane of the molecule and 6 electrons in (cid:25) bonds below and above this plane. The
(cid:25) electrons can
move freely around the ring. By a time-varying magnetic field a ring current is induced
(benzene is
a diamagnetic molecule) which will run forever unless the magnetic field is changed. This
resembles
closelytheoperationofasuperconductingringinthepersistentmode(seeFig. 27).

Fig.27:Persistentringcurrentsinabenzenemoleculeandinasuperconductingringwhichhavebe
eninducedbyarisingfield
Bz.
5. QUANTISATIONOFMAGNETICFLUX
Several important superconductor properties, in particular the magnetic flux quantisation,
can only be
explained bystudying the magneticvectorpotentialand itsimpacton theso-called‘canonical
momen-
tum’ of the charge carriers. Since this may not be a familiar concept I will spend some time
to discuss
the basic ideas and the supporting experiments which are beautiful examples of quantum
interference
phenomena.
5.1 Thevectorpotentialinelectrodynamics
In classicalelectrodynamicsit is oftenamatter of convenience to expressthe magneticfield as
thecurl
(rotation)ofavectorpotential
B~ = ~ A~ :
r(cid:2)
ThemagneticfluxthroughanareaF canbecomputedfromthelineintegralof A~ alongtherimofF
by
usingStoke’stheorem:
(cid:8) = B~ d~F = A~ d~s : (33)
mag
(cid:1) (cid:1)
ZZI
WeapplythistothesolenoidalcoilsketchedinFig. 28.

Fig.28:Magneticfield andvectorpotentialofasolenoid.
ThemagneticfieldhasaconstantvalueB = B insidethesolenoidandvanishesoutsideifwethe
0
lengthofthecoilismuchlargerthanitsradiusR.
Thevectorpotentialhasonlyanazimuthalcomponent
andcanbecomputedusingEq. (33):
1B r forr < R
2 0 (cid:1)
A(cid:18)(r) = 8 1B R2 forr > R :
<20r
EvaluatingB~ = ~ A~ incylindricalcoor:dinatesgivestheexpectedresult
r(cid:2)
B forr <R
0
B (r) =
z 0 forr >R :
(cid:26)
Whatdowelearnfromthisexample?
(a)Thevectorpotentialisparalleltothecurrentbutperpendiculartothemagneticfield.
(b) Thereare regions in spacewhere the vectorpotentialis non-zero whilethe
magneticfieldvanishes.
Hereitistheregionr > R. Acircularcontourofradiusr > Rincludesmagneticflux,namelyB
(cid:25)R2
0
forallr > R,soA~ mustbenon-zero,althoughB~ = 0.
The vector potential is not uniquely defined. A new potential A~0 = A~ + ~(cid:31) with an
arbitrary
r
scalar function (cid:31)(x;y;z) leaves the magnetic field B~ invariant because the curl of a
gradient vanishes
identically.
Forthisreasonitisoftensaidthatthevectorpotentialisjustausefulmathematicalquantity
without physical significance of its own. In quantum theory this point of view is entirely
wrong, the
vectorpotentialisofmuchdeeperphysicalrelevancethanthemagneticfield.
5.2 Thevectorpotentialinquantumtheory
Inquantumtheorythevectorpotentialisaquantityoffundamentalimportance:
(1)A~ isthewavefunctionofthephotons,
(2)inanelectromagneticfieldthewavelengthofachargedparticleismodifiedbythevectorpotenti
al.
Fortheapplicationin superconductivity weareinterestedinthesecondaspect. Thede Broglie
relation
states that the wavelength we have to attribute to a particle is Planck’s constant divided by
the particle

momentum
2(cid:25)~
(cid:21)= : (34)
p
For a free particle one has to insert p = mv. It turns out that in the presence of an
electromagnetic
fieldthisisnolongercorrect,insteadonehastoreplacethemechanicalmomentumm~v bytheso-
called
‘canonicalmomentum’
p~= m~v+qA~ (35)
whereqisthechargeoftheparticle(q = eforanelectron). Thewavelengthisthen
(cid:0)
2(cid:25)~
(cid:21) = :
mv+qA
If one moves by a distance(cid:1)x, the phase ’ of the electronwave function changesin free
space bythe
amount
2(cid:25) 1
(cid:1)’ = (cid:1)x= m ~v (cid:1)~x:
(cid:21) ~ e (cid:1)
Inanelectromagneticfieldthereisanadditionalphasechange
e
(cid:1)’0 = A~ (cid:1)~x:
(cid:0)~ (cid:1)
ThisiscalledtheAharonov-
Bohmeffectafterthetheoreticianswhopredictedthephenomenon[20]. The
phaseshiftshouldbeobservable inadouble-slitexperimentassketchedinFig. 29.
Anelectronbeamis
splitintotwocoherentsub-beamsandatinysolenoidcoilisplacedbetweenthesebeams. Thesub-
beam
1travelsantiparalleltoA~,beam2paralleltoA~. Sothetwosub-beamsgainaphasedifference
ee
(cid:14)’ = (cid:14)’ + A~ d~s= (cid:14)’ + (cid:8) : (36)
0 ~ (cid:1) 0 ~ mag
I
Fig.29:Schematicarrangementforobservingthephaseshiftduetoavectorpotential.
Here(cid:14)’ isthephasedifferenceforcurrent0inthecoil. TheAharonov-
Bohmeffectwasverified
0
in a beautiful experiment by Mo¨llenstedt and Bayh in Tu¨bingen [21]. The experimental
setup and the
result of the measurements are shown in Fig. 30. An electron beam is split by a metalized
quartz
fibre on negative potential which acts like an optical bi-prism. Two more fibres bring the
two beams
to interferenceon a photographic film. Very sharp interference fringes are observed.
Between the sub-
beams is a 14 (cid:22)m–diameter coil wound from 4 (cid:22)m thick tungsten wire. The
current in this coil is first
zero, then increasedlinearlywith time and afterthat kept constant. The film recordingthe
interference
patternismovedintheverticaldirection.
Therebythemovingfringesaredepictedasinclinedlines. The
observed shiftsareinquantitative agreementwiththepredictionofEq. (36).

Fig.30:SketchoftheM¨ollenstedt-Bayhexperimentandobservedinterferencepattern.
An interesting special case is the phase shift (cid:14)’ = (cid:25) that interchanges bright
and dark fringes.
AccordingtoEq. (36)thisrequiresamagneticflux
~h
(cid:8) = (cid:25) =
mag
e 2e
which turns out to be identical to the elementary flux quantum in superconductors, see sect.
5.3. In
the Mo¨llenstedt experiment however, continuous phase shifts much smaller than (cid:25)
are visible, so the
magneticflux throughthenormal-conductingtungsten coil is notquantised(there is alsono
theoretical
reasonforfluxquantisationinnormalconductors).
Althoughthemagneticfieldisverysmalloutsidethesolenoid,andtheobservedphaseshiftsarein
quantitative agreement with the expectation based on the vector potential, there have
nevertheless been
sceptics who tried to attribute the observed effects to some stray magnetic field. To exclude
any such
explanationanewversionoftheexperimenthasrecentlybeencarriedoutbyTonomuraetal.
[22]making
useofelectronholography(Fig. 31).
Aparallelelectronbeamisimagedbyanelectronmicroscopelens
on a photographic plate. To create a holographic pattern the object is placed in the upper
half of the
beamwhilethelowerhalfservesasareferencebeam. Ametalizedquartzfibre(thebi-
prism)bringsthe
two-part beam to an overlap on the plate. The magneticfield is provided by a
permanentlymagnetised
ringofwithafew(cid:22)mdiameter. Themagnetis enclosedin
niobiumandcooledbyliquidheliumsothe
magneticfieldis totallyconfined. Thevectorpotential, however, is
notshieldedbythesuperconductor.
The field lines of B~ and A~ are also drawn in the figure. The holographic image shows
again a very
clear interference pattern and a shift of the dark line in the opening of the ring which is
caused by the
vector potential. This experiment demonstrates beyond any doubt that it is the vector
potential and not
themagneticfieldwhichinfluencesthewavelengthoftheelectronandtheinterferencepattern.

Fig. 31: Observation of Aharonov-Bohm effect using electron holography (after Tonomura
[22]). The permanent toroidal
magnet,encapsuledinsuperconductingniobium,andtheobservedinterferencefringesareshow
n.
5.3 Fluxquantisation
The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect excludes magnetic field from the bulk of a type I
superconductor. An
interesting situation arises if one exposes a superconducting ring to a magnetic field. Then
one can
obtainatrappedflux,threadingtheholeoftheringas showninFig. 32. BoththeLondonandtheBCS
theorymakethesurprisingpredictionthatthefluxthroughtheholecannotassumearbitraryvalue
sbutis
quantised,i.e. thatitisanintegermultipleofanelementaryfluxquantum
(cid:8) = n(cid:8) ; n= 0;1;2;::: (37)
mag 0
Fig.32:Trappingofmagneticfluxinaring.Firstthenormal-conductingring(T
>Tc)isplacedinamagneticfield, thenitis
cooleddown(a)andfinally thefield isswitchedoff(b).Theintegrationpathisshowninpart(c).
ThefluxquantumisPlanck’sconstantdividedbythechargeofthesupercurrentcarriers. TheBCS
fluxquantumisthus
h
(cid:8) = (38)
0
2e

whiletheLondonfluxquantumistwiceasbigbecausethechargecarriersintheLondontheoryaresi
ngle
electrons.
5.31 Derivationoffluxquantisation
TheCooper-pairwavefunctionintheringcanbewrittenas
(cid:9) = pn exp(i’) :
c
ThedensityofCooperpairsisdenotedasn . Thephase’ = ’(s)hastochangebyn 2(cid:25)
whengoing
c
(cid:1)
once around the ring since (cid:9) must be a single-valued wave function. We choose a
circular path in the
bulkofthering(Fig. 31c). Then
d’
ds= n 2(cid:25) :
ds (cid:1)
I
In other words: the circumference must be an integer number of wavelengths. In the bulk
there is no
currentallowedsotheCooper-pairvelocitymustbezero,~v = 0. Thereforetheintegrandis
d’ q
ds= A~ d~s:
ds ~ (cid:1)
UsingEq. (33)weseethatthemagneticfluxenclosedbythecircularpathis
~ 2(cid:25)~
(cid:8) = A~ d~s= n 2(cid:25) = n (cid:8) (cid:8) = : (39)
mag 0 0
(cid:1) q (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) ) q
I
IntheBCStheorywehaveq = 2eandhence(cid:8) = h=(2e).
0
(cid:0)
5.32 Experimentalverificationoffluxquantisation
In 1961 two experiments on flux quantisation were carried out almost simultaneously, by
Doll and
Na¨bauer [23] in Mu¨nchen and by Deaver and Fairbank [24] in Stanford. I describe the Doll-
Na¨bauer
experimentasityieldedthebestevidence. ThesetupandtheresultsareshowninFig. 33.
Thesupercon-
ductingringisherealeadtubepreparedbyevaporationofleadona10(cid:22)m–
thickquartzcylinderwhich
isthensuspendedbyatorsionfibre.
Magneticfluxiscapturedinthetubebyexposingthewarmtubetoa
‘magnetisingfield’B paralleltotheaxis,coolingdownandswitchingoffthefield. Thenatransverse
mag
oscillatingfieldB
isappliedtoinduceforcedoscillationswhichareobservedbylightreflectionfroma
osc
smallmirror. TheresonantamplitudeA
isproportionaltothemagneticmomentofthetubeandhence
res
to the captured magnetic flux. Without flux quantisation the relation between resonant
amplitude and
magnetising field should be linear. Instead one observes a very pronounced stair-case
structure which
can be uniquely related to frozen-in fluxes of 0, 1 or 2 flux quanta. Both experiments proved
that the
magneticfluxquantumish=2eandnoth=eandthusgavestrongsupportfortheCooper-
pairhypothesis.

Fig.33:Observationoffluxquantisation[23].
The BCS theory is not directly applicable to high-T superconductors2 which are basically
two-
c
dimensionalsuperconductors. InFig. 34thefluxthroughaYBa Cu O
ringwithaweakjointisshown.
237
Flux jumps due to external field variations occur in multiples of h=2e which is an indication
that some
kindofCooperpairingisalsoresponsibleforthesuperconductivity inthesematerials.
Fig.34:FluxthroughanYBa2Cu3O7ringwithaweaklink[26].
Inanotherinterestingexperimentaleadstripwasbentintoringshapeandclosedviaan interme-
diateYBa Cu O piece.
Itwaspossibletoinduceapersistentringcurrentinthiscombinedsystemofa
237
low-T andahigh-T superconductor.
cc
5.4 FluxoidpatternintypeIIsuperconductors
Abrikosov predicted that a magnetic field penetrates a type II superconductor in the form of
flux tubes
or fluxoids, each containing a single elementary quantum (cid:8) , which arrange themselves
in a quadratic
0
ortriangularpatterntominimizethepotentialenergyrelatedtothemutualrepulsionofthefluxtub
es. A
schematiccrosssectionof afluxoidispresentedin Fig. 35.
Themagneticfieldlinesaresurroundedby
2Forareviewofhigh-Tcsuperconductorsseeref.[25]andthelecturesbyR.Fluekiger.

asuper-currentvortex. TheCooper-
pairdensitydropstozeroatthecentreofthevortex,sothecoreofa
fluxtubeisnormal-conducting.
Fig.35:Schematiccrosssectionofafluxoid.
Fig.36:
(a)Fluxoidpatterninniobium(courtesyU.Essmann).Thedistancebetweenadjacentfluxtubesis0
.2(cid:22)m.(b)Fluxoid
motioninacurrent-carryingtypeIIsuperconductor.
Theareaoccupiedbyafluxoidisroughlygivenby(cid:25)(cid:24)2 where(cid:24)
isthecoherencelength. Anestimateof
theuppercriticalfieldisderivedfromtheconditionthatthefluxoidsstarttouchingeachother:
(cid:8)
0
B : (40)
c2 (cid:25) 2(cid:25)(cid:24)2
An important experimental step was the direct observation of the fluxoid pattern. Essmann
and
Tra¨uble[12]developeda‘decoration’techniqueforthispurpose. A
superconductorsamplewascooled
byaliquidheliumbathwiththesurfacestickingoutoftheliquid.
Ironwasevaporatedatsomedistance
fromthesuperconductor,
andintheheliumgasatmospheretheironatomsagglomeratedtotinycrystals
(about 20nm) that wereattractedby themagneticfieldlinesand stuckto the samplesurface
wherethe
fluxoidsemerged.
Afterwarmingup,athinfilmwassprayedonthesurfacetoallowtheironcrystalstobe
removedforsubsequentobservationinanelectronmicroscope. ThephotographinFig.
36ashowsindeed
theperfecttriangularpatternpredictedbyAbrikosov.
Similarpictureshavebeenrecentlyobtainedwith
high-temperaturesuperconductors.
Theelectronholographysetupmentionedinthelastsectionpermits
directvisualizationofthemagneticfluxlines. Figure37isan impressive
exampleofthecapabilitiesof
thisadvancedmethod.

Fig.37:Holographicimageofthemagneticfluxlinesthroughathinleadplate[22].
6. HardSuperconductors
6.1 Fluxflowresistanceandfluxpinning
For application in accelerator magnets a superconducting wire must be able to carry a large
current in
thepresenceofafieldinthe5–10Teslarange.
TypeIsuperconductorsaredefinitelyruledoutbecause
their critical field is less than a few tenths of a Tesla and their current-carrying capacity is
very small
since the current is restricted to a thin surface layer (compare Fig. 6). Type II conductors
appear quite
appropriateonfirstsight:
theyhavealargeuppercriticalfieldandhighcurrentsarepermittedtoflowin
thebulkmaterial. Stillthereisaproblem,calledfluxflowresistance.
Ifacurrentflowsthroughanideal
type II superconductor which is exposed to a magnetic field one observes heat generation.
The current
densityJ~exertsaLorentzforceonthefluxlines. Theforceperunitvolumeis
F~ = J~ B~ :
(cid:2)
The flux lines begin to move through the specimen in a direction perpendicular to the
current and to
the field (Fig. 36b). This is a viscous motion (~v F~) and leads to heat generation. So
although the
/
current itself flows without dissipation the sample acts as if it had an Ohmic resistance. The
statement
iseven formallycorrect. Themovingfluxoidsrepresentamovingmagneticfield.
AccordingtoSpecial
Relativitythisisequivalenttoanelectricfield
1
E~ = B~ ~v :
equiv c2 (cid:2)
It is easy to see that E~ and J~ point in the same direction just like in a normal resistor. Flux
flow
equiv
resistancewasstudiedexperimentallybyKimandco-workers[28].
Toobtainusefulwiresformagnetcoilsthefluxmotionhastobeinhibited. Thestandardmethodis
tocapturethematpinningcentres. Themostimportantpinningcentresinniobium-
titaniumarenormal-
conducting Ti precipitates with a size in the 10 nm range. Flux pinning is discussed in detail
in M.N.
Wilson’s lectures at this school. A type II superconductor with strong pinning is called a
hard super-
conductor. Hardsuperconductorsareverywellsuitedforhigh-
fieldmagnets,theypermitdissipationless
current flow in high magnetic fields. There is a penalty, however: these conductors exhibit a
strong
magnetichysteresiswhichistheoriginoftheveryannoying‘persistent-current’
multipolesinsupercon-
ductingacceleratormagnets.

6.2 Magnetisationofahardsuperconductor
A type I superconductor shows a reversible response3 to a varying external magnetic field
H. The
magnetization is given by the linear relation M~ (H~) = H~ for 0 < H < H and then drops to
zero,
c
(cid:0)
see Fig. 10. An ideal type II conductor without any flux pinning should also react reversibly.
A hard
superconductor, on the other hand, is only reversible in the Meissner phase because then no
magnetic
fieldentersthebulk,sonofluxpinningcanhappen. IfthefieldisraisedbeyondH
magneticfluxenters
c1
the sample and is captured at pinning centres. When the field is reduced again these flux
lines remain
bound and the specimen keeps a frozen-in magnetisation even for vanishing external field.
One has to
invert the field polarity to achieve M = 0 but the initial state (H = 0 and no captured flux in
the bulk
material) can only be recovered by warming up the specimen to destroy superconductivity
and release
allpinnedfluxquanta,andbycoolingdownagain.
A typicalhysteresiscurve is shown in Fig. 38a. Thereis acloseresemblencewiththehysteresis
inironexceptforthesign:
themagnetisationinasuperconductorisopposedtothemagnetisingfieldbe-
causetheunderlyingphysicalprocessisdiamagnetism.
Inanacceleratorthefieldisusuallynotinverted
andthenthehysteresishastheshapeplottedinFig. 38b.
Fig. 38: (a) Magnetic hysteresis of a hard superconductor. (b) Magnetisation hysteresis for
the field cycle of accelerator
magnets.
Detailed studies on superconductor magnetisation were performed in the HERA dipoles.
The
sextupole component is a good measure of M. Immediately after cooldown a dipole was
excited to
low fields. In Fig. 39 the sextupole field B at a distance of 25 mm from the dipole axis is
plotted as
3
a function of the dipole field B = (cid:22) H on the axis. One can see that the sextupole is a
reversible
101
function of B up to about 25mT (the lower criticalfield of NbTiis somewhat smaller,
around15mT,
1
but in most parts of the coil the local field is less than the value B on the axis). The
superconducting
1
cableisthereforeintheMeissnerphase. IncreasingB
to50mTalreadyleadstoaslighthysteresissoa
1
certainamountofmagneticfluxenterstheNbTifilamentsandiscapturedthere.
3Thisstatementappliesonlyforlongcylindralorellipticalsamplesorientedparalleltothefield.

Fig.39:Sextupolefield inaHERAdipoleintheMeissnerphaseandslightlyabove.
Withincreasingfieldthehysteresiswidensmoreandmoreandis eventuallynearlysymmetricto
the horizontalaxis. The sextupole hysteresisobserved in thestandard fieldcycle at HERA is
plottedin
Fig. 40a. Asimilarcurveisobtainedforthe12-poleinthequadrupoles.
Fig.40:(a)ThesextupolecomponentintheHERAdipolesforthestandardfield cycle4.7T!0.05T!
4.7T.(b)Sextupole
field forthefirst beamtestwithpositronsof7GeV.
Onlyina‘virgin’ magnet,thatisrightaftercool-down, istherethechancetoinfluencethewidth
ofthehysteresiscurve.
ThisfactwasusedtoadvantageduringthecommissioningoftheHERAproton
storage ring. The first beam test was made with positrons of only 7 GeV since the nominal
40 GeV
protons were not yet available. At the corresponding dipole field of 70 mT (coil current 42.5
A) the
persistent-current sextupole component would have been two orders of magnitude larger
than tolerable
if the standard field cycle had been used. To eliminate the sextupole, all magnets were
warmed to 20
K to extinguishany previous superconductormagnetisationand cooledbackto 4.4 K.Then
thecurrent
loop 0 112 A 42.5 A was performed which resulted in an almost vanishing sextupole (see
Fig.
!!
40b). A similar procedure was used in the first run with 40 GeV protons, this time with the
loop 0
!
314 A 245 A. The measured chromaticity indeed proved an almost perfect sextupole
cancellation.
!

FortheroutineoperationofHERAtheseproceduresareofcoursenotapplicablebecausetheyrequi
rea
warm-upofthewholering.
Instead,sextupolecorrectioncoilsmustbeusedtocompensatetheunwanted
fielddistortions.
6.3 Fluxcreep
Thepinningcentrespreventfluxflowinhardsuperconductorsbutsomesmallfluxcreepeffectsre
main.
At finitetemperatures, even as low as 4 K, a few of the flux quanta may be released
fromtheir pinning
locationsbythermalenergyandthenmoveoutofthespecimentherebyreducingthemagnetisatio
n. The
first flux creep experimentwas carriedout byKim et al. [29] using a smallNbZr tube. If one
plotsthe
internalfieldatthecentreofthetubeasafunctionoftheexternalfieldthewell-known
hysteresiscurve
is obtained in which one can distinguish the shielding and the trapping branch, see Fig. 41a.
Kim and
co-workers realized that on the trapping branch the internal field exhibited a slow
logarithmicdecrease
withtimewhileontheshieldingbranchasimilarincreasewasseen(Fig. 41b).
Fig.41: (a)Hysteresisoftheinternalfield inatubeofhardsuperconductor.
(b)Timedependenceoftheinternalfield onthe
trappingandtheshieldingbranch[29].
Alogarithmictimedependenceissomethingratherunusual. Inanelectricalcircuitwithinductive
and resistive components the current decays exponentially like exp( t=(cid:28)) with a time
constant (cid:28) =
(cid:0)
L=R. A theoretical model for thermally activated flux creep was proposed by Anderson [30].
The
pinningcentresarerepresentedbypotentialwellsofaveragedepthU andwidthainwhichbundles
of
0
fluxquantawithanaverageflux(cid:8) = n(cid:8) arecaptured.
Atzerocurrenttheprobabilitythatfluxleaves
av 0
apotentialwellisproportionaltotheBoltzmannfactor
P exp( U =k T) :
00B
/ (cid:0)
When the superconductor carries a current density J the potential acquires a slope
proportional to the
force density F (cid:8) J. This slope reduces the effective potential well depth to U = U
(cid:1)Uwith
av 0
/ (cid:0)
(cid:1)U (cid:8) Jal, see Fig. 42. Here l is the length of the flux bundle. The probability for flux
escape
av
(cid:25)
increases
P = P exp(+(cid:1)U=k T):
0B

Fig.42:Sketchofthepinningpotentialwithoutandwithcurrentflowandfield profile
acrosstheNbZrtube.
We consider now the tube in the Kim experiment at a high external field B on the trapping
ext
branch of the hysteresis curve. The internal field is then slightly larger, namely by the
amount B
int
(cid:0)
B = (cid:22) J w where J is the critical current density at the given temperature and magnetic
field
mext 0 c c
andw thewallthickness. UndertheassumptionB B B bothfieldandcurrentdensityare
int ext ext
(cid:0) (cid:28)
almost constant throughout the wall. The reduction in well depth (cid:1)U is proportional to
the product of
these quantities. If a bundle of flux quanta is released from its well, it will ‘slide’ down the
slope and
leave the material. In this way space is created for some magnetic flux from the bore of the
cylinder
which will migrate into the conductorand refill the well. As a consequencethe internal
fielddecreases
andwithitthecriticalcurrentdensityinthewall.
Itstimederivativeisroughlygivenbytheexpression
dJ (cid:1)U (cid:8) aJ l
c av c
Cexp Cexp (41)
dt (cid:25) (cid:0) k T (cid:25) (cid:0) k T
(cid:18) B (cid:19) (cid:18) B (cid:19)
whereC isaconstant. Thesolutionofthisunusualdifferentialequationis
kT
B
J (t) = J (0) lnt: (42)
cc
(cid:0) (cid:8) al
av
Thisresultimpliesthatforgiventemperatureandmagneticfieldthecriticalcurrentdensityisnotr
eally
a constant but depends slightly on time. What one usually quotes as J is the value obtained
after the
c
decayrateonalineartimescalehasbecomeunmeasurablysmall.
Anearlylogarithmictimedependenceisalsoobservedinthepersistent-currentmultipolefieldsof
acceleratormagnets,seee.g. [31]. Soitseemstemptingtoattributetheeffecttofluxcreep.
Surprisingly,
the decay rates are generally much larger than typical flux creep rates and depend
moreover on the
maximumfieldlevelinaprecedingexcitation,seeFig. 43a.

Fig.43: (a)Decayofthesextupolecoefficient inaHERAdipoleatafield

of0.23Tfordifferentvaluesofthemaximumfield
intheinitialisingcycle0!Bmax !0:04T !0.23T[32].(b)Magnetisationdecayatzerofield
inalongsampleofHERA
cablefordifferentvaluesofthemaximumfield intheinitialisingcycle0!Bmax !0[33].
IncablesamplesthisisnotthecaseasisevidentfromFig. 43b. Theaveragemagnetisationofa5
m-longcablesampledecaysatlowfield(B = 0inthiscase)bylessthan1%perdecadeoftime,andthe
decayrateistotallyindependentofthemaximumfieldB in theprecedingcycle. Theobserved rate
max
agreeswellwithotherdataonfluxcreepinNbTi.
Fromthe datain Fig. 43it is obvious thatthermallyactivated flux creepcanexplain onlypart of
the timedependenceof multipoles in magnets. The decay rates measuredin magnets are
usually much
largerthanthoseincablesamples,andthereisaconsiderablevariationfrommagnettomagnet.
In1995
experimentalresults[34]andmodelcalculations[35]werepresentedshowingthatthetimedepe
ndence
is due to a complex interplay between magnetisation currents in the NbTi filaments and
eddy currents
amongthestrandsofthecable. Quantitative
predictionsarenotpossiblebecauseoftoomanyunknown
parameters. Foramoredetaileddiscussionsee[31].
Flux creep has become an important issue after the discovery of high-temperature
superconduc-
tors. Figure44showsthatthemagnetisationofYBaCuOsamplesdecaysrapidly,
inparticularforsingle
crystals. One speaks of ‘giant flux creep’. This is a strong hint that flux pinning is insufficient
at 77 K
andimpliesthatthepresentlyavailablematerialsarenotyetsuitedforbuildingmagnetscooledbyl
iquid
nitrogen.

Fig.44:
ComparisonofsuperconductormagnetisationdecayduetofluxcreepinNbTiatatemperatureof4.
2K,inoriented-
grainedYBa2Cu3Oxat77KandinaYBa2Cu3Oxsinglecrystalat60K[36].
7. SUPERCONDUCTORSINMICROWAVEFIELDS
Superconductivity in microwave fields is not treated adequately in standard text books. For
this reason
I present in this section a simplified explanation of the important concepts. A similar
treatment can be
found in [37]. Superconductorsare free from energy dissipationin direct-current(dc)
applications, but
this is no longer true for alternating currents (ac) and particularly not in microwave fields.
The reason
is that the high-frequency magnetic field penetrates a thin surface layer and induces
oscillations of the
electrons which are not bound in Cooper pairs. The power dissipation caused by the motion
of the
unpairedelectronscanbecharacterizedbyasurfaceresistance.
Incoppercavitiesthesurfaceresistance
isgivenby
1
R = (43)
surf
(cid:14)(cid:27)
where(cid:14) istheskindepthand(cid:27)theconductivity ofthemetal.
The response of a superconductor to an ac field can be understood in the framework of the
two-
fluidmodel 4. Anaccurrentina superconductoris carriedbyCooper-pairs (the
superfluidcomponent)
aswellasbyunpairedelectrons(thenormalcomponent).
Letusstudytheresponsetoaperiodicelectric
field. ThenormalcurrentobeysOhm’slaw
J = (cid:27) E exp( i!t) (44)
nn0
(cid:0)
whiletheCooperpairsreceiveanaccelerationm v_ = 2eE exp( i!t),sothesupercurrentdensity
cc0
(cid:0) (cid:0)
becomes
n 2e2
c
J = i E exp( i!t) : (45)
s0
m ! (cid:0)
e
Ifwewriteforthetotalcurrentdensity
J = J +J = (cid:27)E exp( i!t) (46)
ns0
(cid:0)
4A similar model is used to explain the unusual properties of liquid helium below 2.17 K in
terms of a normal and a
superfluidcomponent.

wegetacomplexconductivity:
2n e2 1
c
(cid:27) = (cid:27) +i(cid:27) with (cid:27) = = : (47)
n s s m ! (cid:22) (cid:21)2 !
e0L
Thesurfaceresistanceistherealpartofthecomplexsurfaceimpedance
1 1 (cid:27)
n
R = Re = : (48)
surf (cid:21) ((cid:27) +i(cid:27) ) (cid:21) (cid:1) (cid:27)2 +(cid:27)2
(cid:18) L n s (cid:19) L n s
Since(cid:27)2 (cid:27)2 atmicrowavefrequenciesonecandisregard(cid:27)2
inthedenominatorandobtainsR
n (cid:28) s n surf /
(cid:27) =((cid:21) (cid:27)2).
Sowearriveatthesurprisingresultthatthemicrowavesurfaceresistanceisproportionalto
nLs
thenormal-stateconductivity.
Theconductivity ofanormalmetalisgivenbytheclassicDrudeexpression
n e2‘
n
(cid:27) = (49)
n
mv
eF
wheren isthedensityoftheunpairedelectrons,‘theirmeanfreepathandv theFermivelocity. The
nF
normalelectronsarecreatedbythermalbreakupof Cooperpairs. Thereis an energy gapE =
2(cid:1)(T)
g
between the BCS ground state and the free electron states. By analogy with the conductivity
of an
intrinsic(undoped)semiconductorweget
(cid:27) ‘ exp( E =(2k T)) = ‘ exp( (cid:1)(T)=(k T)) : (50)
ngBB
/ (cid:0) (cid:0)
Using1=(cid:27) = (cid:22) (cid:21)2! and(cid:1)(T) (cid:1)(0) = 1:76k T
wefinallyobtainfortheBCSsurfaceresistance
s 0 L (cid:25) B c
R (cid:21)3 !2‘ exp( 1:76T =T) : (51)
BCS / L (cid:0) c
This formula displays two important aspects of microwave superconductivity: the surface
resistance
dependsexponentiallyontemperature,anditisproportionaltothesquareoftheradiofrequency.
Eq. (51)appliesifthemeanfreepath‘oftheunpairedelectronsismuchlargerthanthecoherence
length(cid:24). Inniobiumthisconditionisusuallynotfulfilledandonehastoreplace(cid:21)
intheaboveequation
L
by[38]
(cid:3) = (cid:21) 1+(cid:24)=‘ : (52)
L
p
Fig. 45: The surface resistance of a 9-cell TESLA cavity plotted as a function of Tc=T. The
residual resistance of 3 n(cid:10)
correspondstoaqualityfactorQ0 =1011.

Combiningequations(51)and(52)wearriveatthesurprisingstatementthatthesurfaceresistanc
e
does not assume its minimum value when the superconductor is of very high purity (‘
(cid:24)) but rather
(cid:29)
in the range ‘ (cid:24). Experimental results [39] and theoretical models [40] confirm this
prediction. The
(cid:25)
effectisalsoobserved
incoppercavitieswithathinniobiumsputtercoatinginwhichtheelectronmean
freepath is in theorderof (cid:24). At4.2 K thequalityfactors inthe LEP cavities areindeeda
factorof two
higherthaninpureniobiumcavities[41].
InadditiontotheBCStermthereisaresidualresistancecausedbyimpurities,frozen-inmagnetic
fluxorlatticedistortions.
R = R +R : (53)
surf BCS res
R is temperature independent and amounts to a few n(cid:10) for a clean niobium surface
but may readily
res
increaseifthesurfaceiscontaminated.
Forniobium theBCSsurface resistanceat 1.3 GHz amountsto about800 n(cid:10) at 4.2 K and
drops
to 15 n(cid:10) at 2 K, see Fig. 45. The exponential temperature dependence is the reason
why operation at
2
Kisessentialforachievinghighacceleratinggradientsincombinationwithveryhighqualityfactor
s.
Superfluidheliumisanexcellentcoolantowingtoitshighheatconductivity.
8. JOSEPHSONEFFECTS
In 1962 B.D. Josephson made a theoretical analysis of the tunneling of Cooper pairs through
a thin
insulating layer from one superconductor to another and predicted two fascinating
phenomena which
werefullyconfirmedbyexperiment. AschematicexperimentalarrangementisshowninFig. 46.
Fig.46:SchematicarrangementforstudyingthepropertiesofaJosephsonjunction.
DCJosephsoneffect. IfthevoltageV acrossthejunctioniszerothereisadcCooper-
paircurrentwhich
0
canassumeanyvalueintherange
I<I<I
00
(cid:0)
whereI isamaximumcurrentthatdependsontheCooper-
pairdensitiesandtheareaofthejunction.
0
AC Josephson effect. Increasing the voltage of the power supply eventually leads to a non-
vanishing
voltage across the junction and then a new phenomenon arises: besides a dc current which
however is
nowcarriedbysingleelectronsthereisanalternatingCooper-paircurrent
I(t) = I sin(2(cid:25)f t+’ ) (54)
0J0
whosefrequency, theso-calledJosephsonfrequency, isgivenbytheexpression
2eV
0
f = : (55)
J 2(cid:25)~
Foravoltage V = 1(cid:22)V oneobtainsafrequency of483.6MHz. Thequantity’
isanarbitraryphase.
00
Equation(55)isthebasisofextremelyprecisevoltagemeasurements.

8.1 Schro¨dingerequationoftheJosephsonjunction
The wave functions in the superconductors 1 and 2 are called and . Due to the possibility
of
12
tunnelingthroughthebarrierthetwoSchro¨dingerequationsarecoupled
@ @
i~ 1 = E +K ; i~ 2 = E +K : (56)
112221
@t @t
The quantity K is the coupling parameter. The macroscopic wave functions can be
expressed through
theCooper-pairdensitiesn ;n andthephasefactors
12
= pn exp(i’ ); = pn exp(i’ ) : (57)
111222
Weinsertthisinto(56)andobtain
n_ i
1
+ipn ’_ exp(i’ )= [E pn exp(i’ )+Kpn exp(i’ )]
2pn1 1 1 1 (cid:0)~ 1 1 1 2 2
(cid:18) (cid:19)
and
n_ i
2
+ipn ’_ exp(i’ )= [E pn exp(i’ )+Kpn exp(i’ )]:
2pn2 2 2 2 (cid:0)~ 2 2 2 1 1
(cid:18) (cid:19)
Nowwemultiplytheseequationwithexp( i’ )resp. exp( i’ )andseparatetherealandimaginary
12
(cid:0) (cid:0)
parts:
2K
n_ = pn n sin(’ ’ );
1 ~ 1 2 2 (cid:0) 1
2K
n_ = pn n sin(’ ’ )= n_ ;
2 ~ 1 2 1 (cid:0) 2 (cid:0) 1
1n
2
’_ = E +K cos(’ ’ ) ; (58)
1 (cid:0)~ 1 n 2 (cid:0) 1
1
(cid:20) r (cid:21)
1n
1
’_ = E +K cos(’ ’ ) :
2 (cid:0)~ 2 n 1 (cid:0) 2
2
(cid:20) r (cid:21)
For simplicity we consider the case where the two superconductors are identical, so n = n .
The
21
Cooper-pairenergiesE andE differbytheenergygaineduponcrossingthevoltageV :
120
E = E 2eV :
210
(cid:0)
Theequationssimplify
2K
n_ = n sin(’ ’ )= n_ ;
1 ~ 1 2 (cid:0) 1 (cid:0) 2
d 1 2eV
0
(’ ’ ) = (E E )= : (59)
dt 2 (cid:0) 1 (cid:0)~ 2 (cid:0) 1 ~
Integratingthesecondequation(59)yieldstheJosephsonfrequency
2eV
0
’ (t) ’ (t) = t+’ = 2(cid:25)f t+’ : (60)
2 (cid:0) 1 ~ (cid:1) 0 J (cid:1) 0
TheCooper-paircurrentthroughthejunctionisproportionalton_ .
Using(59)and(60)itcanbewritten
1
as
2eV
0
I(t) = I sin t+’ : (61)
0~0
(cid:18) (cid:19)
Therearetwocases:
(1)Forzerovoltageacrossthejunctionwegetadccurrent
I = I sin’
00
whichcanassumeanyvaluebetween I and+I sincethephase’ isnotspecified.
000
(cid:0)
(2)ForV = 0thereisanacCooper–paircurrentwithexactlytheJosephsonfrequency.
0
6

8.2 Superconductingquantuminterference
A loop with two Josephson junctions in parallel (Fig. 47) exhibits interference phenomena
that are
similartotheopticaldiffractionpatternofadoubleslit.
Assumingzerovoltageacrossthejunctionsthe
totalcurrentis
I = I +I = I (sin’ +sin’ ) :
ab0ab
Whenamagneticflux(cid:8) threadstheareaoftheloop,thephasesdifferaccordingtoSec. 5by
mag
2e 2e
’ ’ = A~ d~s= (cid:8) :
b (cid:0) a ~ (cid:1) ~ mag
I
With’ = (’ +’ )=2weget
0ab
ee
’ = ’ + (cid:8) ; ’ = ’ (cid:8)
a 0 ~ mag b 0 (cid:0) ~ mag
andthecurrentis
e
I = I sin(cid:30) cos (cid:8) : (62)
0 0 ~ mag
(cid:16) (cid:17)
Fig.47: AloopwithtwoJosephsonjunctionsandtheobservedinterferencepattern[42].
Theamplitudemodulationiscaused
bythefinite widthofthejunctions.
Asafunctionof themagneticflux oneobtainsatypicaldouble-slitinterferencepatternasshown
inFig. 47. Adjacentpeaksareseparatedbyonefluxquantum(cid:1)(cid:8) =
(cid:8) ,sobycountingfluxquanta
mag 0
onecanmeasureverysmallmagneticfields.
ThisisthebasicprincipleoftheSuperconductingQuantum
InterferenceDevice(SQUID).Technicallyoneoftenusessuperconductingringswithasingleweak
link
which acts as a Josephson junction. Flux transformers are applied to increase the effective
area and
improvethesensitivity.
A FREEENERGYINTHERMODYNAMICS
ToillustratethepurposeofthefreeenergyIconsiderfirstanidealgas.
Theinternalenergyisthesumof
thekineticenergiesofallatoms
N
m3
U = v2 = Nk T (63)
2i2B
i=1
X
anddependsonlyontemperaturebutnotonvolume.
Thefirstlawofthermodynamicsdescribesenergy
conservation:
dU = (cid:14)Q+(cid:14)W : (64)

Theinternalenergyincreaseseitherbyaddingheat(cid:14)Qormechanicalwork(cid:14)W =
pdV tothegas. For
(cid:0)
areversibleprocessonehas(cid:14)Q = T dS whereS istheentropy.
Nowconsideranisothermalexpansion
ofthegas. Therebythegastransformsheatintomechanicalwork:
dU = 0 for T = const (cid:14)Q = (cid:14)W = pdV : (65)
) (cid:0)
The gas produces mechanical work but its internal energy does not change, hence U is not
an ade-
quate variable to describe the process. What is the correct energy variable? We will see that
this is the
Helmholtzfreeenergy, givenby
F = U T S dF = dU SdT TdS = (cid:14)W SdT : (66)
(cid:0) ) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0)
Foran isothermalexpansion(dT = 0) we getdF = (cid:14)W, i.e. dF = pdV:
theworkproducedbythe
(cid:0)
gasisidenticaltothereductionofitsfreeenergy.
Now we consider a magnetic material of permeability (cid:22) inside a coil which generates
a field H.
ThemagnetizationisM~ = ((cid:22) 1)H~.
Itspotentialenergy(perunitvolume)inthemagneticfieldis
(cid:0)
E = (cid:22) M~ H~ : (67)
pot 0
(cid:0) (cid:1)
Ifthemagnetizationchangesby d~M theworkis(cid:14)W = (cid:22) d~M H~.
DefiningagaintheHelmholtzfree
0
(cid:1)
energy by eq. (66) we get by analogy with the ideal gas dF = (cid:14)W, hence F can in fact
be used to
describethe thermodynamicsof magneticmaterialsin magneticfields. One drawback is,
however, that
the magnetization of a substance cannot be directly varied by the experimenter. What can
be varied at
willisthemagneticfieldH,namelybychoosingthecoilcurrent.
Forthisreasonanotherenergyfunction
ismoreappropriate,theGibbsfreeenergy
G = F (cid:22) M~ H~ = U T S (cid:22) M~ H~ : (68)
00
(cid:0) (cid:1) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:1)
For an isothermal process we get dG = (cid:22) M~ d~H. Let us apply this to a
superconductor in the
0
(cid:0) (cid:1)
Meissnerphase. Then(cid:22)= 0andM~ = H~ fromwhichfollows
(cid:0)
(cid:22) (cid:22)
dG = (cid:22) M(H)dH = 0 d(H2) G (H) = G (0)+ 0 H2 : (69)
sup 0 sup sup
2)2
ThisequationisusedinSect. 3.
B THEFORMATIONOFACOOPERPAIR
ToillustratethespiritoftheBCStheoryIwillpresentthemathematicsofCooper-pairformation.
Letus
considerametalatT = 0.
TheelectronsfillalltheenergylevelsbelowtheFermienergywhilealllevels
aboveE areempty. Thewavevectorandthemomentumofanelectronarerelatedby
F
p~= ~~k :
Inthethree-dimensionalkspacetheFermispherehasaradiusk = p2m E =~. Tothefullyoccupied
FeF
Fermi sphere we add two electrons of opposite wave vectors ~k = ~k whose energy E = E =
1212
(cid:0)
~2k2=(2m )iswithinthesphericalshell(seeFigs. 20,23)
1e
E < E < E +~! : (70)
F1FD
FromSect. 4 weknow that~! is thelargest energy quantumof thelatticevibrations. The
interaction
D
with the ‘sea’ of electrons inside the Fermi sphere is neglected except for the Pauli Principle:
the two
additional electrons are forbidden to go inside because all levels below E are occupied.
Under this
F
assumption the two electrons together have the energy 2E > 2E . Now the attractive force
provided
1F

bythelatticedeformationistaken intoconsideration.
FollowingCooper[18]wemustdemonstratethat
thetwoelectronsthenformaboundsystem,a‘Cooperpair’,whoseenergydropsbelowtwicetheFe
rmi
energy
E = 2E (cid:14)E < 2E :
pair F F
(cid:0)
TheSchro¨dingerequationforthetwoelectronsreads
~2
( 2 + 2) (~r ;~r )+V(~r ;~r ) (~r ;~r ) = E (~r ;~r ) (71)
(cid:0)2m r1 r1 1 2 1 2 1 2 pair 1 2
e
where V is the interaction potential due to the dynamical lattice polarisation. In the simple
case of
vanishinginteraction,V = 0,thesolutionof(71)istheproductoftwoplanewaves
111
(~r ;~r ) = exp(i~k ~r ) exp(i~k ~r ) = exp(i~k ~r)
1 2 pL3 1 (cid:1) 1 (cid:1) pL3 2 (cid:1) 2 L3 (cid:1)
with~k = ~k =~k thek-vector,~r = ~r ~r therelative coordinateandL3
thenormalisationvolume.
1212
(cid:0) (cid:0)
ThemostgeneralsolutionofEq. (71)withV = 0isasuperpositionofsuchfunctions
1
(~r) = g(~k)exp(i~k ~r) (72)
L3 (cid:1)
X~k
withtherestrictionthatthecoefficientsg(~k)vanishunlessE ~2k2=2m E +~! . Thisfunction
FeFD
(cid:20) (cid:20)
iscertainlynotanexactsolutionoftheequation(71)withV = 0butforaweakpotentialitcanbeused
6
toobtaintheenergyE infirstorderperturbationtheory. Forthispurposeweinsert(72)intoEq.
(71):
pair
1 ~2k02
g(~k0) +V(~r) E exp(i~k0 ~r) =0:
L3 m (cid:0) pair (cid:1)
"e#
X~k0
Thisequationismultipliedbyexp( i~k ~r)andintegrated,usingtheorthogonalityrelations
(cid:0) (cid:1)
1 exp i(~k0 ~k) ~r d3r = (cid:14) with (cid:14) = 1for~k =~k0
L3 (cid:0) (cid:1) ~k~k0 ~k~k0 0otherwise:
Z (cid:16) (cid:17) (cid:26)
IntroducingfurtherthetransitionmatrixelementsofthepotentialV
V = exp i(~k ~k0) ~r V(~r)d3r (73)
~k~k0 (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:1)
Z (cid:16) (cid:17)
onegetsarelationamongthecoefficientsoftheexpansion(72)
~2k2 1
g(~k) E = g(~k0)V : (74)
m (cid:0) pair (cid:0)L3 ~k~k0
(cid:20) e (cid:21) X~k0
The matrix element V describes the transition from the state (~k; ~k) to any other state
(~k0; ~k0) in
~k~k0 (cid:0) (cid:0)
the spherical shell of thickness ~! around the Fermi sphere. Cooper and later Bardeen,
Cooper and
D
Schrieffer madethesimplestconceivable
assumptiononthesematrixelements,namelythattheyareall
equal.
~2k2 ~2k02
V = V for E < ; < E +~! (75)
~k~k0 (cid:0) 0 F 2m 2m F D
ee

and V = 0 elsewhere. The negative value ensures attraction. With this extreme simplification
the
~k~k0
right-handsideofEq. (74)isnolonger~k dependentbutbecomesaconstant
1V
g(~k0)V = 0 g(~k0) = A: (76)
(cid:0)L3 ~k~k0 L3
X~k0 X~k0
ThenEq. (74)yieldsforthecoefficients
AA
g(~k) = = :
~2k2=m E ~2k2=m 2E +(cid:14)E
e pair e F
(cid:0) (cid:0)
The constant A is still unknown. We can eliminate it by summing this expression over all ~k
and using
(76)oncemore
L3
g(~k) = A
V
0
X~k
fromwhichfollows
L3 A
A=:
V ~2k2=m 2E +(cid:14)E
0eF
X~k (cid:0)
DividingbyAleadstotheimportantconsistency relation
V1
0
1 = : (77)
L3 ~2k2=m 2E +(cid:14)E
eF
X~k (cid:0)
The sum extends over all~k vectors in the shell between E and E +~! . Since the states are
very
FFD
denselyspacedonecanreplacethesummationbyanintegration
11
d3k (E)dE
L3 ! (2(cid:25))3 ! N
X~k Z Z
where (E) is the density of single-electron states for a definite spin orientation. (The states
with
N
oppositespinorientationmustnotbecountedbecauseaCooperpairconsistsoftwoelectronsofop
posite
spin). The integration spans the narrow energy range [E ;E + ~! ] so (E) can be replaced by
FFD
N
(E )andtakenoutoftheintegral. Introducingascaledenergyvariable
F
N
~2k2
(cid:24) = E E = E
FF
(cid:0) 2m (cid:0)
e
formula(77)becomes
~!D d(cid:24)
1 = V (E ) : (78)
0F
N 2(cid:24)+(cid:14)E
Z0
Theintegralyields
1 (cid:14)E +2~!
D
ln :
2 (cid:14)E
(cid:18) (cid:19)
Theenergyshiftisthen
2~!
D
(cid:14)E = :
exp(2=(V (E )) 1
0F
N (cid:0)
Forsmallinteractionpotentials(V (E ) 1)thisleadstothefamousCooperformula
0F
N (cid:28)
2
(cid:14)E = 2~! exp : (79)
D
(cid:0)V (E )
(cid:18) 0N F (cid:19)
Except for a factor of 2 the same exponential appears in the BCS equations for the energy
gap and the
criticaltemperature.

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