Nonsuperconducting Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy

E. L. Wolf

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This chapter emphasizes on tunneling spectroscopy, which one might define, roughly, as any measurement giving structure, however weak, as a function of the injection energy eV. Normally, of course, one measures the tunneling conductance G(V) or its derivative with respect to V, perhaps in the presence, additionally, of a magnetic field or stress, to clarify the origin of energy-dependent structure. Such measurements are usually made near 4.2 K, even when a normal metal counterelectrode is used, because the resolution of the spectroscopy is limited by thermal energy kBT. The apparent exclusion of superconductivity in the title may thus appear misleading; on the other hand, this chapter does not consider such purely superconductive phenomena as gap anisotropy, vortex properties, quasiparticle lifetimes, and the whole range of Josephson effects, that certainly comprise a separate field. These topics have been reviewed in the recent book by L. Solymar, to which the present article is complementary in a sense, although it attempts a rather greater depth in treatment of the physical content of material, at some expense in exhaustive bibliography. Nevertheless, it discusses the phenomenon of spin-split superconductivity as a means of determining the spin polarization in magnetic electrodes, the superconducting proximity effect as a specific strategy for studying magnetic interactions and other properties of the normal state, and several superconducting materials of an unusual nature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-91
Number of pages91
JournalSolid State Physics - Advances in Research and Applications
Volume30
Issue numberC
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 1975

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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