Spatially inhomogeneous discrete states of a superconductor upon injection of nonequilibrium quasiparticles from a point contact with a normal metal

TL;DR

This paper investigates how injecting nonequilibrium quasiparticles affects the inhomogeneous states of superconductors near point contacts, revealing discrete resistance steps and enabling estimation of electric field penetration depth.

Contribution

It demonstrates the formation of spatially inhomogeneous superconducting states due to quasiparticle injection and links resistance steps to the penetration depth in various superconductors.

Findings

Observation of discrete resistance steps in IVC of superconductor-normal metal contacts.

Displacement of singularities in IVC with magnetic field and temperature.

Estimation of electric field penetration depth in specific superconductors.

Abstract

The current-voltage characteristics (IVC) of $S-c-N$ point contacts of superconductors with a small coherence length ${{\xi}_{0}}$ reveal steps with discrete values of the differential resistance. This peculiarity is associated with a transition of the contact region of the superconductor to a spatially inhomogeneous state under the influence of the current injection of nonequilibrium quasiparticles penetrating the superconductor to a depth ${{l}_{E}}$ . The role of the relaxation of the disbalance between the occupancies of electron- and hole-like branches of the quasiparticle spectrum is manifested in the displacement of the position of the singularities on the IVC towards higher energies upon an increase in the magnetic field and/or temperature. This effect was observed in superconductors with different ratios of the contact diameter $d$ and ${{\xi}_{0}}$ or ${{l}_{E}}$ in the series $Ta\ (d\ll {{\xi}_{0}},\ {{l}_{E}})\to NbS{{e}_{2}}$, $N{{b}_{3}}Sn\ (d\gtrsim {{\xi}_{0}},\ {{l}_{E}})\to YB{{a}_{1.25}}S{{r}_{0.75}}C{{u}_{3}}{{O}_{7-\delta}}(d\gg {{\xi}_{0}},\ {{l}_{E}})$. Apparently, a jumplike displacement of the boundary between regions with suppressed and equilibrium values of the energy gap near the contact is responsible for the oscillations observed on the IVC of point contacts between single crystals of high- temperature superconductors (HTS) and a normal metal. The resistance-periodic step-like structure of the IVC allows us to estimate the penetration depth ${{l}_{E}}$ of the electric field in $NbS{{e}_{2}}$ and $YBaSrCuO$.