Cavity Quantum Eliashberg Enhancement of Superconductivity

Jonathan B. Curtis; Zachary M. Raines; Andrew A. Allocca; Mohammad Hafezi; Victor M. Galitski

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.167002

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Cavity Quantum Eliashberg Enhancement of Superconductivity

Jonathan B. Curtis, Zachary M. Raines, Andrew A. Allocca, Mohammad Hafezi, Victor M. Galitski

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.167002 · Physical Review Letters

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Abstract

Driving a conventional superconductor with an appropriately tuned classical electromagnetic field can lead to an enhancement of superconductivity via a redistribution of the quasiparticles into a more favorable nonequilibrium distribution—a phenomenon known as the Eliashberg effect. Here, we theoretically consider coupling a two-dimensional superconducting film to the quantized electromagnetic modes of a microwave resonator cavity. As in the classical Eliashberg case, we use a kinetic equation to study the effect of the fluctuating, dynamical electromagnetic field on the Bogoliubov quasiparticles. We find that when the photon and quasiparticle systems are out of thermal equilibrium, a redistribution of quasiparticles into a more favorable nonequilibrium steady state occurs, thereby enhancing superconductivity in the sample. We predict that by tailoring the cavity environment (e.g., the photon occupation and spectral functions), enhancement can be observed in a variety of parameter regimes, offering a large degree of tunability.