Subgap states in disordered superconductors
Abstract
We revise the problem of the density of states in disordered superconductors. Randomness of local sample characteristics translates to the quenched spatial inhomogeneity of the spectral gap, smearing the BCS coherence peak. We show that various microscopic models of potential and magnetic disorder can be reduced to a universal phenomenological random order parameter model, whereas the details of the microscopic description are encoded in the correlation function of the order parameter fluctuations. The resulting form of the density of states is generally described by two parameters: the width Gamma measuring the broadening of the BCS peak, and the energy scale Gamma_{tail} which controls the exponential decay of the density of the subgap states. We refine the existing instanton approaches for determination of Gamma_{tail} and show that they appear as limiting cases of a unified theory of optimal fluctuations in a nonlinear system. Application to various types of disorder is discussed.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1305.6300,
title = {Subgap states in disordered superconductors},
author = {M. A. Skvortsov and M. V. Feigel'man},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1305.6300},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
Contribution to the JETP issue dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Prof. Anatoly I. Larkin (12 pages, 2 figures); minor changes, identical to the published version