Negative Magnetoresistance of Granular Metals in a Strong Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how superconducting fluctuations in granular metals cause negative magnetoresistance in strong magnetic fields by affecting the density of states and conductivity.

Contribution

It introduces a model explaining negative magnetoresistance due to superconducting fluctuations in granular metals under strong magnetic fields.

Findings

Superconducting fluctuations reduce the density of states.

Magnetic field destroys fluctuations, increasing conductivity.

Negative magnetoresistance observed at low temperatures.

Abstract

The magnetoresistance of a granular superconductor in a strong magnetic field destroying the gap in each grain is considered. It is assumed that the tunneling between grains is sufficiently large such that all conventional effects of localization can be neglected. A non-trivial sensitivity to the magnetic field comes from superconducting fluctuations leading to the formation of virtual Cooper pairs and reducing the density of states. At low temperature, the pairs do not contribute to the macroscopic transport but their existence can drastically reduce the conductivity. Growing the magnetic field one destroys the fluctuations, which improves the metallic properties and leads to the negative magnetoresistance.