“Wetting” phase transitions in type-I superconductors

J.O. Indekeu and J.M.J. van Leeuwen

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 1997, vol. 236, issue 1, 114-122

Abstract: We predict on the basis of the Ginzburg-Landau theory that a type-I superconductor can exhibit an interface delocalization or “wetting” transition, in which a macroscopically thick superconducting layer intrudes from the surface into the bulk normal phase. The condition for this transition to occur is that the superconducting order parameter |Ψ|2 is enhanced at the surface. Surprisingly, the order of the wetting transition is controlled by a bulk material constant, the Ginzburg-Landau parameter κ. First-order wetting is predicted for 0 ≤ κ < 0.374, and critical wetting for 0.374 < κ < 1/√2. The possibility of critical wetting is especially interesting because this phenomenon has largely eluded experimental verification in any system until now.

Keywords: Wetting phase transitions; Type-I superconductivity; Interfaces; Critical phenomena (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:236:y:1997:i:1:p:114-122

DOI: 10.1016/S0378-4371(96)00405-0

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