Resistive state of quasi-one-dimensional superconductors: fluctuations vs. sample inhomogeneity

TL;DR

This paper investigates the resistive transition in quasi-one-dimensional superconductors, emphasizing the roles of fluctuations and sample inhomogeneity, and highlights the importance of geometrical factors in interpreting experimental results.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis considering both fluctuations and geometrical inhomogeneity to better understand the resistive transition in thin superconducting wires.

Findings

Sample inhomogeneity significantly influences the R(T) transition shape.

Geometrical factors like wire dimensions are crucial for interpreting experimental data.

Fluctuation effects alone cannot fully explain the transition broadening.

Abstract

The shape of experimentally observed R(T) transition of thin superconducting wires is analyzed. Broadening of the transition in quasi-1-dimensional superconducting channels is typically associated with phase slip mechanism provided by thermal or quantum fluctuations. It is shown that consideration of inevitable geometrical inhomogeneity and finite dimensions of real samples studied in experiments is of primary importance for interpretation of results. The analysis is based on experimental fact that for many superconducting materials the critical temperature is a function of characteristic dimension of a low-dimensional system: film thickness or wire cross section