Amplitude Higgs mode and admittance in superconductors with a moving condensate

TL;DR

This paper studies how a supercurrent in a superconductor enables direct excitation of the Higgs mode by an external electric field, affecting the superconductor's admittance and offering new experimental insights.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a supercurrent allows the Higgs mode to be excited at first order by an external field and derives a formula for the admittance in this scenario.

Findings

Higgs mode can be excited directly by an external field in a supercurrent state.

Resonance in amplitude response at frequency twice the gap.

Amplitude oscillations influence the superconductor's admittance.

Abstract

We consider the amplitude (Higgs) mode in a superconductor with a condensate flow (supercurrent). We demonstrate that, in this case, the amplitude mode corresponding to oscillations $\delta |\Delta|_{\Omega} \exp(i \Omega t)$ of the superconducting gap is excited by an external ac electric field $\mathbf{E}_{\Omega} \exp(i \Omega t)$ already in the first order in $|\mathbf{E}_{\Omega}|$, so that ${\delta |\Delta|_{\Omega} \propto (\mathbf{v}_{0} \mathbf{E}_{\Omega})}$, where $\mathbf{v}_{0}$ is the velocity of the condensate. The frequency dependence $\delta |\Delta|_{\Omega}$ has a resonance shape with a maximum at ${\Omega = 2 \Delta}$. In contrast to the standard situation without the condensate flow, the oscillations of the amplitude $\delta |\Delta(t)|$ contribute to the admittance $Y_{\Omega}$. We provide a formula for admittance of a superconductor with a supercurrent. The predicted effect opens new ways of experimental investigation of the amplitude mode in superconductors and materials with superconductivity competing with other states.