BCS Theory

Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
BCS Theory of Superconductivity

Thomas Burgener
Supervisor: Dr. Christian Iniotakis
Proseminar in Theoretical Physics
Institut f
ur theoretische Physik
ETH Z
urich
June 11, 2007
1 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
What is BCS Theory?
Original publication: Phys. Rev. 108, 1175 (1957)

2 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
What is BCS Theory?
First working microscopic theory for superconductors.

Its a mean-field theory.
In its original form only applied for conventional
superconductors.
3 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
What is BCS Theory?

superconductors.
3 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
What is BCS Theory?

superconductors.
3 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
Origin of Attractive Interaction
BCS Theory
The model Hamiltonian
Bogoliubov-Valatin-Transformation
Calculation of the condensation energy
Finite Temperatures
Excitation Energies and the Energy Gap
Determination of Tc
Temperature dependence of the energy gap
Thermodynamic quantities
4 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Determination of Tc
4 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Determination of Tc
4 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Determination of Tc
5 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Formation of Pairs
Lets assume the following things:

Consider a material with a filled Fermi sea at T = 0.
Add two more electrons that
interact attractively with each other but
dont interact with the other electrons except via
Pauli-prinziple.
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Formation of Pairs
Look for the groundstate wavefunction for the two added electrons,
which has zero momentum:
X
ikr1
ikr2
(r
,
r
)
=
g
e
e
(|"#i |#"i)
0 1 2
k
k
The total wavefunction has to be antisymmetric with respect to

exchange of the two electrons. The spin part is antisymmetric and
therefore the spacial part has to be symmetric.
!
) gk = g
k.
7 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Formation of Pairs
Inserting this into the Schr
odinger equation of the problem leads to
the following equation for the determination of the coefficients gk
and the energy eigenvalue E :
(E
2k )gk =
Vkk0 gk0 ,
k>kF
where
Vkk0 =
V (r)e i(k
k)r
dr
(r: distance between the two electrons, : normalization volume,

k : unperturbated plane-wave energies).
8 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Formation of Pairs
Since it is hard to analyze the situation for general Vkk0 , assume:

Vkk0 =
V
0
, EF < k < EF + ~!c

, otherwise
with ~!c a cuto energy away from EF .
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Formation of Pairs
With this approximation we get:
1
V
k>kF
1
2k
1
N(0) ln
2
= N(0)
2EF
EF +~!c
EF
E + 2~!c
2EF E
d
2
If N(0)V 1, we can solve approximativly for the energy E

E 2EF
2~!c e
2
N(0)V
< 2EF .
10 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Formation of Pairs
Negative terms come in when one takes the motion of the ion
cores into account, e.g. considering electron-phonon interactions.
The physical idea is that
the first electron polarizes the medium by attracting positive
ions;
these excess positive ions in turn attract the second electron,
giving an eective attractive interaction between the electrons.
11 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Determination of Tc
12 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

BCS Theory
Having seen that the Fermi sea is unstable against the formation of
a bound Cooper pair when the net interaction is attractive, we
must then expect pairs to condense until an equilibrium point is
reached.
We need a smart way to write down antisymmetric wavefunctions
for many electrons. This will be done in the language of second
quantization.
13 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

BCS Theory
Introduce the creation operator ck , which creates an electron of
momentum k and spin , and the correspondig annihilation
operator ck . These operators obey the standard anticommutation
relations for fermions:
{ck , ck0 0 } ck ck0
+ ck0 0 ck =
kk0
{ck , ck0 0 } = 0 = {ck , ck0 0 }.
Additionally the particle number operator nk is defined by

nk ck ck .
14 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

We start with the so-called

pairing-hamiltonian
H=
X
k
k nk +

Vkl ck"
c k# c
l# cl" ,
kl
presuming that it includes the terms that are decisive for

superconductivity, although it omits many other terms which
involve electrons not paired as (k ", k #).
15 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

We then add a term

leading to
H
N =
N , where is the chemical potential,

X
k
k nk +

Vkl ck"
c k# c
l# cl" .
kl
The inclusion of this factor is mathematically equivalent to taking

the zero of kinetic energy to be at (or EF ).
16 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Define:
bk hc
k# ck" i
Because of the large number of particles involved, the fluctuations

of c k# ck" about these expectations values bk should be small.
Therefor express such products of operators formally as
c
k# ck"
= bk + (c
k# ck"
bk )
and neglect quantities which are bilinear in the presumably small

fluctuation term in parentheses.
17 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Inserting this in our pairing Hamiltonian we obtain the so-called

model-hamiltonian
HM
N =
X
k
k ck ck +

Vkl (ck"
c k# bl + bk c
l# cl"
bk bl )
kl
where the bk are to be determined self-consistently.
18 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Defining further
k
Vkl bl =
X
l
Vkl hc
k# ck" i
leads to the following form of the

model-hamiltonian
HM
N =
X
k
k ck ck

k ck" c k#
k c k# ck"
k bk )
19 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

This hamiltonian can be diagonalized by a suitable linear

transformation to define new Fermi operators k :
ck" = uk
c
k#
k"
+ vk
vk k"
+ uk
k#
k#
with |uk |2 + |vk |2 = 1. Our job is now to determine the values of

vk and uk .
20 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Inserting these operators in the model-hamiltonian gives
X
HM N =
k (|uk |2 |vk |2 )( k"
k" +
k# )
k#
k
+2|vk |2 + 2uk vk
X
+
( k uk vk +
k# k"
+ 2uk vk

k"
k#

k uk vk )( k" k"
k#
k#
1)
+(
2
k vk
+(
2
k vk
2
k# k"
k uk )
2
k uk ) k"
k# +
b
k k .
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Choose uk and vk so that the coefficients of

vanish.
)
)
)
2k uk vk +
v 2
k k
2
k vk
k# k"
2
k uk = 0
+ 2k
uk
q
v
k k
= k2 + |
uk
v
k k
uk
2
k|
2
k|
k Ek
and

k"
k#
k
uk2
=0
k
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

This gives us an equation for the vk and uk as

2
|vk | = 1
1
|uk | =
2
2
k
Ek
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

The BCS ground state

BCS took as their form for the ground state
|
Gi
Y

(uk + vk ck"
c k# ) |0i
k
where |uk |2 + |vk |2 = 1. This form implies that the probability of

the pair (k ", k #) being occupied is |vk |2 , whereas the probability
that it is unoccupied is |uk |2 = 1 |vk |2 .
Note: | G i is the vacuum state for the operators, e.g.
k" |
Gi
=0=
k# |
Gi
24 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures


We can now calculate the groundstate energy to be
X
X
h G | H N | G i = 2
k vk2 +
Vkl uk vk ul vl
k
X
k
kl
k2
Ek
The energy of the normal state at T = 0 corresponds to the BCS

state with = 0 and Ek = |k |. Thus
X
h n | H N | n i =
2k
|k|<kF
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Thus, the condensation energy is given by
2
X
X
k2
k2
hE is hE in =
k
+
k
Ek
Ek
V
|k|>kF
|k|<kF
2
X
k2
= 2
k
Ek
V
|k|>kF
2
2
1
1
=
N(0) 2
=
N(0) 2
V
2
V
2
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Outline
1
Cooper-Pairs
Formation of Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures
Determination of Tc
27 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
With the above choice of the uk and vk , the model-hamiltonian

becomes
HM
N =
(k
Ek +
k bk )
Ek (
k" k"
k#
k# ).
Ek =
2
k
+ k2
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Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc

4
Eks
Ekn
3.5
Ek/
2.5
1.5
0.5
0
-3
-2
-1
0
k/
Figure: Energies of elementary excitations in the normal and

superconducting states as functions of k .
29 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc

Inserting the
k
operators in the definition of

X
=
Vkl hc l# cl" i
l
X
l
D
Vkl ul vl 1
Vkl ul vl (1
l" l"
gives
l#
l#
2f (El ))
X
l
Vkl
2El
tanh
El
2
30 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Using again the approximated potential Vkl =

and therefor
k =
l =
V , we have
1
1 X tanh( Ek /2)
=
.
V
2
Ek
k
This formula determines the critical temperature Tc !
31 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Determination of Tc
The critical temperature Tc is the temperature at which k ! 0

and thus Ek ! k . By inserting this in the above formula,
rewriting the sum as an integral and changing to a dimensionless
variable we find
Z c ~!c /2
1
tanh x
2e
=
dx = ln
c ~!c
N(0)V
x
0
( 0.577...: the Euler constant)
32 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Determination of Tc
Critical temperatur Tc
kTc =
1.13~!c e
1/N(0)V
33 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Determination of Tc
For small temperatures we find
1
=
N(0)V
)
~!c
( 2
d
+ 2 )1/2
~!c
2~!c e
sinh(1/N(0)V )
which shows that Tc and

other
1/N(0)V
(0) are not independent from each
(0)
2
1.764
kTc
1.13
34 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Rewriting again
1
1 X tanh( Ek /2)
=
.
V
2
Ek
k
in an integral form and inserting Ek gives

1
=
N(0)V
~!c
tanh 12 ( 2 + 2 )1/2
d,
( 2 + 2 )1/2
which can be evaluated numerically.
35 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Figure: Temperature dependence of the energy gap with some

experimental data (Phys. Rev. 122, 1101 (1961))
36 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Near Tc we get
Temperature dependence of
(T )
1.74 1
(0)
T
Tc
1/2
T Tc ,
which shows the typical square root dependence of the order

parameter for a mean-field theory.
37 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
With q(T ) determined, we know the fermion excitation energies

Ek = k2 + (T )2 . Then the quasi-particle occupation numbers
will follow the Fermi-function fk = (1 + e

the
electronic entropy for a fermion gas
X
Ses = 2k
((1 fk ) ln(1
Ek ) 1 ,
which determine
fk ) + fk ln fk ).
38 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Figure: Electronic entropy in the superconducting and normal state.
39 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Given Ses (T ), we find the
specific heat
Ces =
X
dSes
=2 k
d
k
@fk
@Ek
Ek2 +
1 d
2 d
In the normal state we have

Cen =
2 2
N(0)k 2 T .
3
40 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
We expect a jump in the specific heat from the superconducting to

the normal state:
C = (Ces
Cen )|Tc = N(0)
d
dT
Tc
9.4N(0)k 2 Tc
41 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Figure: Experimental data for the specific heat in the superconducting

and normal state (Phys. Rev. 114, 676 (1959))
42 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Type I superconductors
1
0.8
Normal-State
0.6
0.4
M-O-State
0.2
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
T/Tc
Figure: Phase diagram of a Type I superconductor

43 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Vortex-State
Original publication: Zh. Eksperim. i Teor. Fiz. 32, 1442 (1957)

(Sov. Phys. - JETP 5, 1174 (1957))
44 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Type I and Type II superconductors
By applying Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductors one finds

two characteristic lengths:
1
The Landau penetration depth for external magnetic fields

and
the Ginzburg-Landau coherence length , which characterizes

the distance over which can vary without undue energy
increase.
45 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Type I and Type II superconductors
Define
Ginzburg-Landau parameter
By linearizing the GL equations near Tc one can find:

<
>
p1 :
2
p1 :
2
Type I superconductor
Type II superconductor
46 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Type II superconductors
3
2.5
Normal-State
1.5
Vortex-State
0.5
M-O-State
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
T/Tc
Figure: Phase diagram of a Type II superconductor

47 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
As a solution of the GL equation, one could find the following form

of the orderparameter:
(x, y ) =
1
1 X
(ixy y 2 )
exp
+ in
N n= 1
!1 =!2
i(2n + 1)
!2
+
(x + iy ) + i n(n + 1)
!1
!1
N =
1/4
!1
=!2
exp
2=!2
!1
48 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Vortex-State
2
-1
-1
-2
-2
-1
-2
-2
-1
Figure: Square and triangle symmetric state of the vortex lattice in a

density plot of | |2 .
49 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Vortex-State
1
!!!2
0.5
2
1
0
-2
0
-1
2
1
0
-2
0
-1
-1
0
x
1
!!!2
0.5
1
2 -2
-1
0
1
2 -2
Figure: Square and triangle symmetric state of the vortex lattice in a 3D

plot.
50 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
Summary
An attractive interaction between electrons will result in

forming bound Cooper pairs.
The model-hamiltonian can be diagonalized using a
Bogoliubov-Valatin-Transformation.
The order parameter in a superconductor is the energy-gap
BCS-Theory gives a prediction of the critical temperature Tc

and the energy gap (T ).
Vortices will be observed in Type II superconductors.
51 / 52
Outlines
Cooper-Pairs
BCS Theory
Finite Temperatures

Determination of Tc
The END
Thank you for your attention!
Are there any questions?
52 / 52

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What is BCS theory and what problem does it aim to solve?

What is BCS theory and what problem does it aim to solve?

What are Cooper pairs and how do they form?

What are Cooper pairs and how do they form?

Outlines

BCS Theory of Superconductivity

June 11, 2007

What is BCS Theory?

Original publication: Phys. Rev. 108, 1175 (1957)

What is BCS Theory?

First working microscopic theory for superconductors.

What is BCS Theory?

First working microscopic theory for superconductors.

What is BCS Theory?

First working microscopic theory for superconductors.

Lets assume the following things:

The total wavefunction has to be antisymmetric with respect to

(r: distance between the two electrons, : normalization volume,

Since it is hard to analyze the situation for general Vkk0 , assume:

, EF < k < EF + ~!c

with ~!c a cuto energy away from EF .

If N(0)V 1, we can solve approximativly for the energy E

Origin of Attractive Interaction

The model Hamiltonian

The model Hamiltonian

The model Hamiltonian

{ck , ck0 0 } = 0 = {ck , ck0 0 }.

Additionally the particle number operator nk is defined by

The model Hamiltonian

The model Hamiltonian

We start with the so-called

presuming that it includes the terms that are decisive for

The model Hamiltonian

The model Hamiltonian

We then add a term

N , where is the chemical potential,

The inclusion of this factor is mathematically equivalent to taking

The model Hamiltonian

Because of the large number of particles involved, the fluctuations

and neglect quantities which are bilinear in the presumably small

The model Hamiltonian

Inserting this in our pairing Hamiltonian we obtain the so-called

where the bk are to be determined self-consistently.

The model Hamiltonian

leads to the following form of the

The model Hamiltonian

This hamiltonian can be diagonalized by a suitable linear

with |uk |2 + |vk |2 = 1. Our job is now to determine the values of

The model Hamiltonian

The model Hamiltonian

Choose uk and vk so that the coefficients of

The model Hamiltonian

This gives us an equation for the vk and uk as

The model Hamiltonian

The BCS ground state

where |uk |2 + |vk |2 = 1. This form implies that the probability of

The model Hamiltonian

Calculation of the condensation energy

The energy of the normal state at T = 0 corresponds to the BCS