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Magnetic pair breaking in disordered superconducting films

T. P. Devereaux·D. Belitz
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Abstract

A theory for the effects of nonmagnetic disorder on the magnetic pair breaking rate $α$ induced by paramagnetic impurities in quasi two-dimensional superconductors is presented. Within the framework of a strong-coupling theory for disordered superconductors, we find that the disorder dependence of $α$ is determined by the disorder enhancements of both the electron-phonon coupling and the spin-flip scattering rate. These two effects have a tendency to cancel each other. With parameter values appropriate for Pb_{0.9} Bi_{0.1}, we find a pair breaking rate that is very weakly dependent on disorder for sheet resistances 0 < R < 2.5 kOhm, in agreement with a recent experiment by Chervenak and Valles.

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T. P. Devereaux, D. Belitz. 1997-04-07. Magnetic pair breaking in disordered superconducting films. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.53.359

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