2005/10/11 by Alan M. Kadin · 3 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Iron-based superconductors research #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10948-006-0198-z
published as J. Supercond. & Novel Magn. 20(4), 285 (May 2007) · 14 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2005/10/11 · openalex publication_date 2007/02/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The Cooper pair is generally analyzed in momentum space, but its real-space structure also follows directly from the BCS theory. It is shown here that this leads to a spherically symmetrical quasi-atomic wavefunction, with an identical "onion-like" layered structure for each of the electrons constituting the Cooper pair, with charge layers ~ 0.1 nm and a radius ~ 100 nm for a classic BCS superconductor. This charge modulation induces a corresponding charge modulation in the background ionic lattice, and the attractive interaction between these two opposite charge modulations produces the binding energy of the Cooper pair. This physically-based interaction potential is similar to that in the simple BCS approximation. The implications of this real-space picture for understanding conventional and exotic superconductors are discussed.