Related papers: Halperin-Lubensky-Ma effect in type-I superconduct…
The Halperin-Lubensky-Ma (HLM) effect of a fluctuation-induced change of the order of phase transition in thin films of type I superconductors with relatively small Ginzburg-Landau number $\kappa$ is considered. Numerical data for the free…
By considering the Ginzburg-Landau model, compactified in one of the spatial dimensions, and using a modified Matsubara formalism, we determine the dependence of the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of a film as a function of…
In the context of the Ginzburg--Landau theory for critical phenomena, we consider the Euclidean $\lambda \phi ^4+\eta \phi^6$ model bounded by two parallel planes, a distance $L$ separating them. This is supposed to describe a sample of a…
We consider the $N$-component Ginzburg-Landau model in the large $N$ limit, the system being embedded in an external constant magnetic field and confined between two parallel planes a distance $L$ apart from one another. On physical…
We consider the Euclidean $D$-dimensional $-\lambda |\phi |^4+\eta |\phi |^6$ ($\lambda ,\eta >0 $) model with $d$ ($d\leq D$) compactified dimensions. Introducing temperature by means of the Ginzburg--Landau prescription in the mass term…
The effect of fluctuation induced weakly first order phase transition known for three dimensional (3D) type I superconductors appears in a modified and strongly enhanced variant in thin (quasi-2D) superconducting films. The unusual…
We have conducted two quantitative tests of predictions based on the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma (HLM) theory of fluctuation-induced first-order phase transitions. First, we explore the effect of an external magnetic field on the nematic-smectic-A…
A new approach to the treatment of magnetic fluctuations in thin films of type I superconductors is introduced. Results for the dependence of free energy, specific heat and order parameter profile on the film thickness near the equilibrium…
The effect of magnetic fluctuations on the free energy, the order parameter profile and the latent heat at the equilibrium point of the first order phase transition to superconducting state in thin films of type I superconductors is…
We have found a new mean field solution in the BCS theory of superconductivity. This unconventional solution indicates the existence of superconducting phase transitions of third order in thin films, or in bulk matter with a layered…
In this paper we consider a superconducting film modeled by the Ginzburg-Landau model, confined between two parallel planes a distance $L$ apart from one another. Our approach is based on the Gaussian effective potential in the transverse…
We investigate transition to the superconducting state in the ultrathin titanium nitride films on approach to superconductor-insulator transition. Building on the complete account of quantum contributions to conductivity, we demonstrate…
Melting is typically viewed as a bulk first-order phase transition that proceeds once nucleation barriers are overcome. Here we demonstrate an interfacially arrested melting regime in molecularly thin crystalline films, where large liquid…
The phase transition between the intermediate and normal states in type-I superconducting films is investigated using magneto-optical imaging. Magnetic hysteresis with different transition fields for collapse and nucleation of…
We report on the normal-superconducting phase transition in thick $\mathrm{YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-\delta}}$ films in zero magnetic field. We find significant finite-size effects at low currents even in our thickest films ($d = 3200$ \AA). Using…
Within the Ginzburg-Landau approach a theoretical study is performed of the effects of confinement on the transition to superconductivity for type-I and type-II materials with surface enhancement. The superconducting order parameter is…
At high magnetic field, the semiclassical approximation which underlies the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory of the mixed state of type II superconductors breaks down. In a quasi-1D superconductor (weakly coupled chains system) with an {\it open…
We propose a Lagrangian function, which combines Landau-Ginzburg term and Chern-Simons term, for describing the competition between disorder and superconductivity. To describe the normal-to-superconducting transition in the thin…
The thermal conductivities ($\kappa$) of bulk and thin-film $\alpha$-Al$_2$O$_3$ are calculated from first principles using both the local density approximation (LDA), and the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to exchange and…
We develop a theory for the vortex unbinding transition in homogeneously disordered superconducting films. This theory incorporates the effects of quantum, mesoscopic and thermal fluctuations stemming from length scales ranging from the…