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BCSTheoryofSuperconductivity

BCSTheoryof
Superconductivity
ThepropertiesofTypeIsuperconductorsweremodeledsuccessfully
bytheeffortsofJohnBardeen,LeonCooper,andRobertSchrieffer
inwhatiscommonlycalledtheBCStheory.Akeyconceptual
elementinthistheoryisthepairingofelectronsclosetotheFermi
levelintoCooperpairsthroughinteractionwiththecrystallattice.
Thispairingresultsfromaslightattractionbetweentheelectrons
relatedtolatticevibrationsthecouplingtothelatticeiscalleda
phononinteraction.
Pairsofelectronscanbehaveverydifferentlyfromsingleelectrons
whicharefermionsandmustobeythePauliexclusionprinciple.The
pairsofelectronsactmorelikebosonswhichcancondenseintothe
sameenergylevel.Theelectronpairshaveaslightlylowerenergy
andleaveanenergygapabovethemontheorderof.001eVwhich
inhibitsthekindofcollisioninteractionswhichleadtoordinary
resistivity.Fortemperaturessuchthatthethermalenergyislessthan
thebandgap,thematerialexhibitszeroresistivity.

Index
Superconductivity
concepts
Reference
Rohlf,Ch15

Bardeen,Cooper,andSchriefferreceivedtheNobelPrizein1972
forthedevelopmentofthetheoryofsuperconductivity.
IdeasleadingtotheBCStheory
Experimentalevidence

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ExperimentalSupport:BCS
Theory
Electronsactingaspairsvialatticeinteraction?Howdidtheycome
upwiththatideafortheBCStheoryofsuperconductivity?The
evidenceforasmallbandgapattheFermilevelwasakeypiecein
thepuzzle.Thatevidencecomesfromtheexistenceofacritical
temperature,theexistenceofacriticalmagneticfield,andthe
exponentialnatureoftheheatcapacityvariationintheTypeI
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/solids/bcs.html#c3

Index
Superconductivity
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BCSTheoryofSuperconductivity

superconductors.

concepts

Theevidenceforinteractionwiththecrystallatticecamefirstfrom
theisotopeeffectonthecriticaltemperature.

Reference
Rohlf,Ch15

Thebandgapsuggestedaphasetransitioninwhichtherewasakind
ofcondensation,likeaBoseEinsteincondensation,butelectrons
alonecannotcondenseintothesameenergylevel(Pauliexclusion
principle).Yetadrasticchangeinconductivitydemandedadrastic
changeinelectronbehavior.Perhapscoupledpairsofelectronswith
antiparallelspinscouldactlikebosons?
Bandgapenergyvstemperature

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MeasuredSuperconductor
Bandgap
Themeasuredbandgapin
TypeIsuperconductorsis
oneofthepiecesof
experimentalevidence
whichsupportstheBCS
theory.TheBCStheory
predictsabandgapof

Index
Superconductivity
concepts

whereTcisthecritical
temperatureforthe
superconductor.The
energygapisrelatedtothe
coherencelengthforthe
superconductor,oneofthe
twocharacteristiclengths
associatedwith
superconductivity.
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/solids/bcs.html#c3

Reference
Rohlf,Ch15

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BCSTheoryofSuperconductivity

Energygapvariations
withtemperature

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EnergyGapinSuperconductors
asaFunctionofTemperature
Theeffective
energygapin
superconductors
canbemeasuredin
microwave
absorption
experiments.The
dataatleftoffer
general
confirmationofthe
BCStheoryof
superconductivity.
Thedatais
attributedto
Townsendand
Sutton.
Thereductionofthe
energygapasyou
Index
approachthecritical
temperaturecanbe
Superconductivity
takenasan
concepts
indicationthatthe
chargecarriershave
References
somesortof
Blatt,
collectivenature.
Ch13
Thatis,thecharge
carriersmust
Kittel,
consistofatleast
SolidState,Ch12
twothingswhich
areboundtogether,
andthebinding
energyis
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BCSTheoryofSuperconductivity

weakeningasyou
approachthecritical
temperature.Above
thecritical
temperature,such
collectionsdonot
exist,andnormal
resistivityprevails.
Thiskindof
evidence,along
withtheisotope
effectwhich
showedthatthe
crystallatticewas
involved,helpedto
suggestthepicture
ofpairedelectrons
boundtogetherby
phononinteractions
withthelattice.

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VanadiumHeatCapacity
Theheatcapacityof
superconducting
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BCSTheoryofSuperconductivity

vanadiumisvery
differentfromthatof
vanadiumwhichis
keptinthenormal
statebyimposinga
Index
magneticfieldonthe
sample.The
Superconductivity
exponentialincrease
concepts
inheatcapacitynear
thecritical
Reference
temperaturesuggests
Rohlf,Ch15
anenergybandgapfor
thesuperconducting
material.
Thisevidencefora
bandgapisoneofthe
piecesofexperimental
evidencewhich
supportstheBCS
theoryof
superconductivity.

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ExponentialHeatCapacity
Asitiswarmedtowarditscriticaltemperature,theheatcapacityof
vanadiumincreases100foldinjust4K.Thisexponentialincrease
suggestsanenergygapwhichmustbebridgedbythermalenergy.
Thisenergygapevidencewaspartoftheexperimentalmotivation
fortheBCStheoryofsuperconductivity.
Fromcomparisonswithothermethodsofdeterminingthebandgap,
itisfoundthattheconstant"b"intheexponentialheatcapacity
expressionisonehalfthebandgapenergy.Iftheslopeofthelinein
theillustrationisdeterminedbyscaling,itisaboutb=7.4k,
correspondingtoanenergygapofabout1.3meV.Thisisslightly
lowerthanthevalueobtainedbyothermethods.Thevaluepredicted
Index
forvanadiumfromitscriticaltemperatureof5.38KbytheBCS
theoryis1.6meV,andthemeasuredvalueisclosetothat.
Superconductivity
concepts
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Reference
Rohlf,Ch15
Compareheat
capacityofnormal
and
superconducting
vanadium.

DatafromW.S.
Korak,etal.,Phys.
Rev.102,656(1956)

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