Deeper insight into the terahertz response of conventional superconductors under magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper explores the terahertz optical response of conventional superconductors under magnetic fields, comparing experimental results with theoretical models in different geometries to better understand superconductivity suppression mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the terahertz conductivity in superconductors under magnetic fields, introducing an alternative interpretation of recent experimental data and applying advanced models to different geometries.

Findings

In the Voigt geometry, magnetic fields above 1 T induce gapless conductivity in Nb films.

In the Faraday geometry, vortex inclusions explain the terahertz conductivity in NbN films.

The Herman and Hlubina model effectively describes the optical conductivity with magnetic-field-dependent scattering.

Abstract

We investigate the terahertz conductivity of conventional superconductors in Voigt and Faraday magneto-optical configurations. First, we review theoretical approaches describing the fundamental processes of suppression of superconductivity in magnetic field and how the in-gap states are filled. In the Voigt geometry, thin superconducting films are fully penetrated by the magnetic field which interacts with the spin, thus modifying the magnitudes of the optical gap and of the density of the condensate. In this configuration, we provide an alternative description of the recent experiments showing the gapless conductivity of a Nb film measured by Lee ${\it et\,al.}$ [Nat. Commun. 14,2737 (2023)], which better fits their data for magnetic fields above 1 T. In the Faraday geometry, we measured and analyzed the terahertz conductivity of three NbN films with varying thicknesses using the Maxwell-Garnett model, treating vortices as normal-state inclusions within a superconducting matrix. In both geometries, the optical conductivity can be comprehensively described by the model of Herman and Hlubina [Phys. Rev. B 96, 014509 (2017)] involving pair-conserving, and magnetic-field-dependent pair-breaking disorder scattering processes.