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Odd-frequency pairing in normal metal/superconductor junctions

Superconductivity 2009-11-13 v2 Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

We study the induced odd-frequency pairing states in ballistic normal metal/superconductor (N/S) junctions where a superconductor has even-frequency symmetry in the bulk and a normal metal layer has an arbitrary length. Using the quasiclassical Green's function formalism, we demonstrate that, quite generally, the pair amplitude in the junction has an admixture of an odd-frequency component due to the breakdown of translational invariance near the N/S interface where the pair potential acquires spatial dependence. If a superconductor has even-parity pair potential (spin-singlet s-wave state), the odd-frequency pairing component with odd-parity is induced near the N/S interface, while in the case of odd-parity pair potential (spin-triplet pxp_{x}-wave or spin-singlet dxyd_{xy}-wave) the odd-frequency component with even-parity is generated. We show that in conventional s-wave junctions, the amplitude of the odd-frequency pairing state is enhanced at energies corresponding to the peaks in the local density of states (LDOS). In pxp_x- and dxyd_{xy}-wave junctions, the amplitude of the odd-frequency component on the S side of the N/S interface is enhanced at zero energy where the midgap Andreev resonant state (MARS) appears due to the sign change of the pair potential. The odd-frequency component extends into the N region and exceeds the even-frequency component at energies corresponding to the LDOS peak positions, including the MARS.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0705.2506,
  title  = {Odd-frequency pairing in normal metal/superconductor junctions},
  author = {Y. Tanaka and Y. Tanuma and A. A. Golubov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0705.2506},
  year   = {2009}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-21T08:29:15.492Z