Temperature dependence of the superheating field for superconductors in the high-κ London limit

G. Catelani; James P. Sethna

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.78.224509

← Back to search

Temperature dependence of the superheating field for superconductors in the high-κ London limit

G. Catelani, James P. Sethna

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.78.224509 · Physical Review B

T1

Active bibliographic source — not scientific approval

Bibliographic access preserves source history; it does not approve extracted materials or validate reported claims. Review warnings on each occurrence separately.

Abstract

We study the metastability of the superheated Meissner state in type II superconductors with κ⪢1 beyond Ginzburg-Landau theory, which is applicable only in the vicinity of the critical temperature. Within Eilenberger’s semiclassical approximation, we use the local electrodynamic response of the superconductor to derive a generalized thermodynamic potential valid at any temperature. The stability analysis of this functional yields the temperature dependence of the superheating field. Finally, we comment on the implications of our results for superconducting cavities in particle accelerators.