Thermodynamic transitions in inhomogeneous d-wave superconductors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how atomic-scale pair disorder affects the spectral and thermodynamic properties of inhomogeneous d-wave superconductors, providing a unified explanation for surface spectroscopy and bulk thermodynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking atomic-scale pair disorder to observed inhomogeneities and calculates specific heat to match experimental transition widths.

Findings

The model reproduces the transition width observed in specific heat measurements.

It offers a semi-quantitative description of the thermodynamic transition in BSCCO.

The approach unifies surface spectroscopy and bulk thermodynamic data.

Abstract

We study the spectral and thermodynamic properties of inhomogeneous d-wave superconductors within a model where the inhomogeneity originates from atomic scale pair disorder. This assumption has been shown to be consistent with the small charge and large gap modulations observed by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) on BSCCO. Here we calculate the specific heat within the same model, and show that it gives a semi-quantitative description of the transition width in this material. This model therefore provides a consistent picture of both surface sensitive spectroscopy and bulk thermodynamic properties.