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Effect of Pair Breaking on Mesoscopic Persistent Currents Well above the Superconducting Transition Temperature

H. Bary-Soroker, O. Entin-Wohlman, and Y. Imry
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 057001 – Published 28 July 2008
Physics logo See Viewpoint: New clues in the mystery of persistent currents

Abstract

We consider the mesoscopic normal persistent current (PC) in a very low-temperature superconductor with a bare transition temperature Tc0 much smaller than the Thouless energy Ec. We show that in a rather broad range of pair-breaking strength, Tc0/τsEc, the transition temperature is renormalized to zero, but the PC is hardly affected. This may provide an explanation for the magnitude of the average PC’s in the noble metals, as well as a way to determine their Tc0’s.

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  • Received 2 April 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.057001

©2008 American Physical Society

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New clues in the mystery of persistent currents

Published 28 July 2008

A decade ago, experimentalists showed that persistent currents can flow in nonsuperconducting mesoscopic metal rings, but there was no theory that correctly explained the magnitude or direction of the unexpectedly large currents. Theorists are now proposing a simple idea that may at last explain these results.

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Authors & Affiliations

H. Bary-Soroker1,*, O. Entin-Wohlman2,3, and Y. Imry1

  • 1Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
  • 2Department of Physics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
  • 3Albert Einstein Minerva Center for Theoretical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

  • *hamutal.soroker@weizmann.ac.il

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Issue

Vol. 101, Iss. 5 — 1 August 2008

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