Surface tension and kinetic coefficient for the normal/superconducting interface: Numerical results versus asymptotic analysis

James C. Osborn; Alan T. Dorsey

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.50.15961

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Surface tension and kinetic coefficient for the normal/superconducting interface: Numerical results versus asymptotic analysis

James C. Osborn, Alan T. Dorsey

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.50.15961 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

The dynamics of the normal/superconducting interface in type-I superconductors has recently been derived from the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity. In a suitable limit these equations are mapped onto a ‘‘free-boundary’’ problem, in which the interfacial dynamics are determined by the diffusion of magnetic flux in the normal phase. The magnetic field at the interface satisfies a modified Gibbs-Thomson boundary condition which involves both the surface tension of the interface and a kinetic coefficient for motion of the interface. In this paper we calculate the surface tension and kinetic coefficient numerically by solving the one-dimensional equilibrium Ginzburg-Landau equations for a wide range of κ values. We compare our numerical results to asymptotic expansions valid for κ≪1, κ≊1/ √2 , and κ≫1, in order to determine the accuracy of these expansions.