Theoretical description of the first-order phase transition of aluminum from a superconducting to normal state by the current-density functional theory for superconductors

TL;DR

This paper uses current-density functional theory to model and explain the magnetic-field-induced first-order phase transition of aluminum from superconducting to normal state, aligning well with experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a magnetic field-dependent attractive interaction model within sc-CDFT to describe the phase transition in aluminum.

Findings

The model reproduces the magnetic field dependence of the superconducting gap.

The calculated transition matches experimental observations.

The approach advances understanding of magnetic effects on superconductivity.

Abstract

We show that the current-density functional theory for superconductors (sc-CDFT) can describe the magnetic-field-induced first-order phase transition of aluminum from a superconducting state to a normal state. This is accomplished by introducing a model for the magnetic field dependence of the attractive interaction between superconducting electrons. This model states that the surface potential well produced by the penetrating magnetic field leads to the magnetic field dependence of the attractive interaction. Specifically, the electron density near the surface increases with the magnetic field due to the surface potential well, which causes the reduction in the attractive interaction due to the screening effect. We also develop the calculation scheme to solve the gap equation of the sc-CDFT with taking into account the magnetic field dependence of the attractive interaction. It is shown that calculation results of the magnetic field dependence of the superconducting gap are in good agreement with experimental results of the first-order phase transition.