The magnetic penetration depth influenced by the proximity to the surface

Abstract

The effect of smooth inhomogeneities near a superconductor boundary on the magnetic penetration depth $\lambda$ is studied with emphasis on the proximity-induced spatial dependence of the Cooper pair amplitude. The influence of surface pair breaking or pair formation on $\lambda$ is described within the Ginzburg-Landau theory, with no model assumptions, for both strongly type-II and strongly type-I homogeneous superconductors. Generic values of $\lambda$, which can differ greatly from the London penetration depth, are identified and demonstrated to be induced by large-scale inhomogeneities, when superconductivity is strongly suppressed on the surface.

6 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (10)

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Depth-resolved measurements of the Meissner screening profile in surface-treated Nb
• Comment on "Strong Meissner screening change in superconducting radio frequency cavities due to mild baking" [Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 072601 (2014)]
• Depth-resolved measurement of the Meissner screening profile in a niobium thin film from spin-lattice relaxation of the implanted $\beta$-emitter ${}^8$Li