Experimental Methods

In this chapter, several of the most important experimental techniques are described. These have been used to probe the most fundamental properties of the superconducting state: the energy gap and the pairing interaction. These methods have played a crucial role in validating the mechanism of superconductivity in conventional superconductors and are key to a fundamental understanding of superconductivity in more recently discovered novel superconductors like cuprates, Fe-based superconductors, and so on. The techniques that are described are all spectroscopic: tunnelling of quasiparticles through an insulating barrier or through a point contact ,Josephson tunnelling, the interaction of photons with a superconducting film or surface, the attenuation of ultrasonic waves,, the relaxation and/or resonance of muons interacting with a superconducting compound, and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS). High-pressure techniques and the preparation of thin films and junctions are described. In addition, a state-of-the-art experimental procedure that enables the observation of the Little mechanism is discussed.

Superconducting States in Nature

This chapter discusses superconducting states in nature. The absence of resistance is the most remarkable manifestation of the superconducting state. But pair correlation is a general phenomenon that can be manifested in various systems, such as atomic nuclei, where the pairing is manifested in spectra, especially via the odd–even effect (the presence of unpaired nucleons makes it possible for nuclei to absorb a lower frequency of radiation than nuclei with an even number of nucleons can) and in the amplitudes of their momenta of inertia, which are smaller than in a rigid model. Another system, the neutron star, has an entirely different spatial scale. However, its low heat capacity leads to its rapid cooling, and the existence of a vortex structure affects the star’s rotation period. Finally, biologically active systems contain delocalised electrons, and the formation of electron pairs affects charge transfer, which is similar to Josephson tunnelling.

High-Frequency Electromagnetic Emission from Non-Local Wavefunctions

In systems with non-local potentials or other kinds of non-locality, the Landauer-Büttiker formula of quantum transport leads to replacing the usual gauge-invariant current density J with a current J e x t which has a non-local part and coincides with the current of the extended Aharonov-Bohm electrodynamics. It follows that the electromagnetic field generated by this current can have some peculiar properties and in particular the electric field of an oscillating dipole can have a long-range longitudinal component. The calculation is complex because it requires the evaluation of double-retarded integrals. We report the outcome of some numerical integrations with specific parameters for the source: dipole length ∼10−7 cm, frequency 10 GHz. The resulting longitudinal field E L turns out to be of the order of 10 2 to 10 3 times larger than the transverse component (only for the non-local part of the current). Possible applications concern the radiation field generated by Josephson tunnelling in thick superconductor-normal-superconductor (SNS) junctions in yttrium barium oxide (YBCO) and by current flow in molecular nanodevices.

Superconductivity

The Meissner effect is discussed. The latent heat of transition is derived by a thermodynamic approach. The concept of surface energy is introduced, leading to the distinction between Type I and Type II superconductors. The differential equation for the superconducting wave function is derived. The energy gap and the phenomenon of tunnelling are discussed. The difference between superconducting tunnelling and Josephson tunnelling is explained. The significance of high transition temperature superconductors is discussed. It is shown that an important application of superconductors is to produce high-field magnets.