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Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 037003 (2005) [4 pages]

Fluctuation Conductivity of Thin Films and Nanowires Near a Parallel-Field-Tuned Superconducting Quantum Phase Transition

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A. V. Lopatin1, N. Shah2,3, and V. M. Vinokur1
1Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
2Festkörpertheorie, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
3Theoretische Physik, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland

Received 26 April 2004; published 24 January 2005

We calculate the fluctuation correction to the normal state conductivity in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition from a superconducting to a normal state, induced by applying a magnetic field parallel to a dirty thin film or a nanowire with thickness smaller than the superconducting coherence length. We find that at zero temperature, where the correction comes purely from quantum fluctuations, the positive “Aslamazov-Larkin” contribution, the negative “density of states” contribution, and the ”Maki-Thompson” interference contribution are all of the same order and the total correction is negative. Further, we show that, based on how the quantum critical point is approached, there are three regimes that show different temperature and field dependencies which should be experimentally accessible.

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.037003
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.037003
PACS:
74.40.+k, 72.15.–v, 74.78.–w, 74.81.–g