Influence by proximity effect on ultrasound attenuation in Cu-Nb composite system at low temperatures

TL;DR

This study investigates how proximity effects influence ultrasound attenuation in Cu-Nb composites at low temperatures, revealing decreased attenuation linked to superconducting properties and electron coherence length variations.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of proximity-induced superconductivity affecting ultrasound attenuation in Cu-Nb composites, with measurements of electron mean free path and coherence length at ultra low temperatures.

Findings

Ultrasound attenuation decreases in Cu-Nb composites at low temperatures.

Superconducting electron coherence length _N(T) is temperature dependent.

Experimental results align with theoretical models in the dirty local limit.

Abstract

The attenuation of longitudinal ultrasonic wave with the frequency of 30 MHz in Cu-Nb copper-niobium (40 vol%) composite system at low temperatures from 0.35 K up to 2 K is researched. It was found that the ultrasonic attenuation decreases in a Cu-Nb multi-filamentary composite sample at low temperatures in distinction to the pure Cu copper or Nb niobium homogeneous bulk samples. It is well known that the contact between the normal metal N and the superconductor S is characterized by an appearance of superconducting properties in the thin surface layer of normal metal N, because of the presence of proximity effect at low temperatures T. This phenomenon is observed on the temperature dependent distance \xi_N(T) in the normal metal N at the normal metal - superconductor NS boundary. It is assumed that the transition from the normal state N to the superconducting state S must be accompanied by the decrease of magnitude of ultrasonic wave's electronic energy absorption in normal metal N. The experimental results show that the superconducting electron coherence length in the normal thin layer is temperature dependent \xi_N(T). The electron mean free path l, which is dependent on the impurity scattering in volume and near Cu-Nb interfaces, was measured by the three independent methods at low temperatures. It is understood that the Andreev reflections are present in S-N-S structure, making some influence on the measured ultrasonic longitudinal wave attenuation in Cu-Nb composite samples at ultra low temperatures. The measured experimental results of ultrasonic longitudinal wave attenuation in Cu-Nb composite samples at low temperatures are in good agreement with the theoretical modeling data, obtained in case of dirty local limit.