Combined effect of nonmagnetic and magnetic scatterers on critical temperatures of superconductors with different gap anisotropy

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates how nonmagnetic and magnetic impurities affect the critical temperatures of superconductors with various gap anisotropies, providing a formula linking these effects to impurity scattering and order parameter anisotropy.

Contribution

It derives a new expression connecting critical temperature suppression to impurity scattering rates and gap anisotropy in different superconductor types.

Findings

Derived a formula relating T_c to impurity scattering and anisotropy.

Discussed effects for d-wave, (s+d)-wave, and anisotropic s-wave superconductors.

Abstract

The combined effect of nonmagnetic and magnetic defects and impurities on critical temperatures of superconductors with different gap anisotropy is studied theoretically within the weak coupling limit of the BCS model. An expression is derived which relates the critical temperature to relaxation rates of charge carriers by nonmagnetic and magnetic scatterers, as well as to the coefficient of anisotropy of the superconducting order parameter on the Fermi surface. Particular cases of d-wave, (s+d)-wave, and anisotropic s-wave superconductors are briefly discussed.