2003/06/26 by T. Schneider · 22 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Cuprate #Lattice (music) #Magnetic field #Materials science #Penetration depth #Phase transition #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Scaling #Superconductivity #Superconductivity in MgB2 and Alloys #Superfluidity #Thermal fluctuations #Transition temperature #Type-II superconductor #cond-mat.dis-nn #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1023/b:josc.0000011838.70984.4b
published in Journal of Superconductivity 17(1), 41-48 (Springer Science+Business Media) · 9 pages, 5 figure
arxiv created 2003/06/26 · openalex publication_date 2004/01/16 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Type II superconductors, consisting of superconducting domains embedded in a normal or insulating matrix, undergo a rounded phase transition. Indeed, the correlation length cannot grow beyond the spatial extent of the domains. Accordingly, the thermodynamic properties will exhibit a finite size effect. It is shown that the specific heat and penetration depth data of a variety of type II superconductors, including cuprates, exhibit the characteristic properties of a finite size effect, arising from domains with nanoscale extent. The finite size scaling analysis reveals essential features of the mechanism. Transition temperature and superfluidity increase with reduced domain size. The combined finite size and isotope effects uncover the relevance of local lattice distortions