Excitation spectra for Andreev billiards of Box and Disk geometries

Abstract

We study Andreev billiards of box and disk geometries by matching the wave functions at the interface of the normal and the superconducting region using the exact solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation. The mismatch in the Fermi wavenumbers and the effective masses of the normal system and the superconductor, as well as the tunnel barrier at the interface are taken into account. A Weyl formula (for the smooth part of the counting function of the energy levels) is derived. The exact quantum mechanical calculations show equally spaced singularities in the density of states. Based on the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization rule a semiclassical theory is proposed to understand these singularities. For disk geometries two kinds of states can be distinguished: states either contribute through whispering gallery modes or are Andreev states strongly coupled to the superconductor. Controlled by two relevant material parameters, three kinds of energy spectra exist in disk geometry. The first is dominated by Andreev reflections, the second, by normal reflections in an annular disk geometry. In the third case the coherence length is much larger than the radius of the superconducting region, and the spectrum is identical to that of a full disk geometry.