Effect of Fluxoid Quantization on Transitions of Superconducting Films

Abstract

This paper presents an elementary theory for the transition of a superconducting film in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. The theory is based on the Ginzburg-Landau theory, with emphasis on the qualitatively important consequences of fluxoid quantization. The theory predicts that the transition occurs at a field $H_T\mathrm{}\left(T\right)=\frac{4\pi \lambda _e^{}{}_{}{}^2\mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}H_{\mathrm{cb}}^{}{}_{}{}^2\mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}}{{\varphi }_0}$, where ${\lambda }_e\mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}$ and $H_{\mathrm{cb}}\mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}$ are the usual penetration depth and bulk critical fields, respectively, and ${\varphi }_0$ is the flux quantum $\frac{\mathrm{hc}}{2e}$. Experimental data agree very well with this result if the transition is determined by measuring thermal conductivity or flux penetration. The resistive critical field for full normal resistance appears to be about twice this value, probably because of a residual filamentary structure. The theory also predicts that the angular dependence of the transition field should be given by $\left(\frac{H_{T}sin\theta }{H_{T\perp }}\right)+{\left(\frac{H_{T}cos\theta }{H_{T\parallel }}\right)}^2=1\mathrm{}$. This unusual form agrees with the thermal conductivity measurements of Morris.