Solid State Communications, Vol. 13, pp. 1645—1649, 1973. Pergamon Press.

Printed in Great Britain

THE PRESSURE DEPENDENCE OF SUPERCONDUCTING ENERGY GAPS FROM

HIGH PRESSURE CRITICAL FIELD MEASUREMENTS

F. Rothwarf
U.S. Army Electronics Technology and Devices Laboratory (ECOM),
Fort Monmouth, New Jersey 07703, U.S.A.
and
L.W. Dubeck

Physics Department. Temple University, Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania 19122, U.S.A.

(Received 10 July 1973 by E. Burstein)

It is shown that the Toxen relationship ~/kT~ = T~/H~(0) (dHc/dl)rc

can be used to obtain ~/kT~ as a function of pressure from critical field
curves taken at high pressures. Data for Sn, In, Zn, Al, Cd, Ga, and Th
are analyzed and ~p)/kT~ are tabulated. For Sn and In a comparison
was made of energy gaps so determined with those measured directly by
tunnelling.

INTRODUCTION relationship for each isobaric critical field curve. It was

IN RECENT years measurements of the critical fields previously shown that for the PbIn system4 reasonable
at high pressures have been obtained for many super. values of ~/kT~ as a function of composition were
conducting elements by the Brandt and Ginzburg1 obtained from analysis of the critical field curves. The
group in Moscow and by Olsen’s group2 in Zurich. Toxen relation5’6 is
Pressures as high as 240 kbar have been used and in a = T~/H~(0) [dH~/dTJ~ = (dh/dt)~
1 (2)
few elements new phases appear at high pressures. In
all cases the data are usually presented as a family
2 for various pressures Since this relationship
atmospheric hasweak,
pressure for been intermediate
shown to holdand at strong
of curves with H~ plotted vs T
as is shown in Fig. l.~Usually it is assumed that such coupling elements as well as alloys, we decided to
data are governed by the ‘similarity’ principle which explore its applicability to elements being subjected
states that the critical field curves at various pressures to intense hydrostatic pressures. Consequently, we
can be described by the expression searched the literature for critical field data as well
tunnelling data as a function of pressure so that a as
H~(p,t) = H~o(p)f(t) (1) comparison between experimentally determined
wheref(t) is assumed to be independent of pressure. (dh/dt)
1 and ~A/kT~
values could be made.
A study of Fig. 1 shows that for aluminiumf(t) is not
the same for all pressures. On reviewing other data for RESULTS
various elements, it was found that in most cases the
similarity principle was to some degree violated. In The data in Fig. II were analyzed as follows. The
this paper we obtain information about the energy gap best straight line was drawn through the data for
as a function of pressure by making use of the Toxen each pressure near T~and extended to T = 0. Since

1645
1646 THE PRESSURE DEPENDENCE OF SUPERCONDUCTING ENERGY GAPS Vol. 13, No. 10

the few points where the comparisons can be made.

The scatter in the (dh/dt)1 values may well be due to
a lack of truly hydrostatic pressure in the apparatus
7 Assuming that the Toxen
go ‘~ 2)I) p’
~ 05.2 k bar used
relation
for holds
such experiments.
for the other elements tabulated, the
$0 3è ~ :2,0 ‘. behaviorof the (dh/dt)
1 values would then reflect
4) ~ ~o” how the energy gap ratio varies with pressure for a
70
** 5) p~ 21,6 ‘ “ given material.
60 The tunnelling data taken by that
Zavaritskii,
8 show ~/k7 for
50
40 I Itskevich
Sn, In andand
Pb Voronovskii
falls linearly with pressure in the range
from 0 to 11.6 kbar. The pressure data confirm
the general decrease of~/kT~ with pressure for Sn and
30 In but the scatter in the data preclude the confirmation

20 of the linear dependence.

For all of the materials in Table I except cadmium
the f~I~vs curves were concave upward as shown
in Fig. 1, since these are all weak or intermediate
0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 .2 T~K2
coupling materials. For strong coupling materials such
FIG. 1. Critical field curves at different pressures for as Hg or Pb one would expect theH~vs curves to
aluminium (after Palmy, Flach and DeTrey3). The be concave downward. The tunnelling data8 indicate
dotted line indicates how the initial slope at 7, was that Pb becomes an intermediate coupling material
obtained, as pressure is increased. Thus, one would expect
the I~f~
vs curves to lose their downward concavity
and become more nearly straight lines as pressure is
(dh/dr) 2)~(2T~IH~(0)) (3) increased. Unfortunately, suitable high pressure
1 (dH~IdT
=
one can quickly valculate (dhldt)
1 by taking the H~(p,t) data for Pb does not seem to exist, so that
)~,= H~(0)
intercept 2
!4(0)~ of the above line at T— 0, to obtain this prediction cannot be checked at this time.
(dH~/dT 1/T~and multiplying it by 9 we have pointed out the
2T~/H~(0),
summarizes to get (dh/dr)1 = 2H~(0)1/H~(0).
(dh/dt) Table i In a previous paper,
1 results as a function of pressure can be related to an effective cutoff tern-
for the seven elements for which appropriate data were perature for the superconducting interaction by means
available. In only two cases were the tunnelling data of the Geilikman—Kressin relation 2ln(O~/T~](4)
as a function
indium.8 of pressure
for these alsothe
materials available, namely tin
corresponding and
~/kT~ 2/kT~= 3.53 [1 + 5.3 (T~/O~)
values are also shown. where 0,, = ~v~.~C/kB,and 1~w4,is the corresponding
cutoff energy. The cutoff energy is determined
We believe that the values of (dh/dt)
1 include largely by the longitudinal phonons for weak coupling
typical errors of 4—5% in the measurement of 14(0), materials, while in strong coupling materials it is the
and J4(0)~.Thus, the total error in (dh/dt)1 is transverse phonons that play the dominant role due
estimated to be 8—10%. The errors in the values of to umldapp scattering where the Brillouin zone
are probably 1 —2%. boundaries intercept portions of the Fermi surface.
Intermediate coupling materials involve both the
transverse and longitudinal phonons. The various
DISCUSSION elements considered in the present paper have
The tabulation for indium and tin show that the exceedingly complex Fermi surfaces some of whose
1°
Toxen relationship is satisfied, i.e., the estimated
(dh!dt) geometries change considerably with pressure.
1 .~/kT~ within the experimental errors for These Fermi surface changes can in turn change the
Vol. 13, No. 10 THE PRESSURE DEPENDENCE OF SUPERCONDUCTING ENERGY GAPS 1647

Table 1

Pressure T~ (dh\
(kbar) (K) (Oe) kdr,11

TinI
37311 3061113 1.7518
1.8913 1.8712
1.87
1.413
11.9 3.6613
3.21 31YJ
255 1.73 1.85
20.0 2.86 228 1.77
31.6 2.57 198 1.72
Tin 11113
240 4.17 67.2 1.84
270 4.00 63.5 1.81
Indium
011 34]i1 28211 1.8017 1.77’s
1.8 3.35 272 1.91 1.77
9.6 3.04 244 1.88 1.75
15.0 2.82 224 1.83
26.0 2.41 192 1.85
Zinc11
0 0.875 54.0 1.68
3.0 0.816 49.7 1.82
7.3 0.688 41.2 1.81
11.8 0.604 36.7 1.84
15.6 0.510 29.2 1.81
19.8 0.447 24.9 1.84
23.9 0.374 22.3 1.62
26.2 0.336 18.9 1.73
Aluminium14’15
O 1.15 104 1.79
5.2 1.02 92 1.87
12.0 0.87 77 1.77
15.0 0.79 69 1.88
21.6 0.73 57 1.93
Cadmium16
0 0.543 28.6 2.00
1.5 0.510 27.6 2.00
3.7 0.454 25.1 2.00
6.6 0.411 22.8 2.00
9.0 0.377 19.7 2,00
12.0 0.339 16.7 2,00
15.3 0.272 14.1 2.00
20.8 0.199 9.9 2.00
26.4 0.123 5.2 2.00
1648 THE PRESSURE DEPENDENCE OF SUPERCONDUCTING ENERGY GAPS Vol. 13, No. 10

Table 1 (continued)

Pressure T,~, I4~ (dh\ A/kT~

(kbar) (K) (Oe) kj~)
Gallium15
0 1.06 58.6 1.73
4.7 0.98 55.8 1.98
9.4 0.91 53.5 1.94
11.5 0,90 50.3 1.96
20.4 0.80 46.5 1.98
Thorium’5
0 1.38 161 1.87
9.3 1.23 153 1.89
13.8 1.19 141 1.89
18.5 1.15 133 1.92
24.8 1,08 126 1.92

nature of the umklapp processes and thus vary the
relative importance of the transverse and longitudinal
phonons causing the value of ~/kT~ to change from a
weak to intermediate coupling regime, e.g., aluminium
and gallium become stronger coupling with pressure.
The cadmium ~/kT~ remains unchanged up to 26 kbar
since H~(p,r) does not deviate from the similarity
principle, while for zinc over the same pressure range,
~/kT~, goes from the weak to the intermediate
and back to the weak coupling regimes.
In summary, the use of the Toxen relationship
permits one to interpret as pressure variations of the
energy gap the previously unexplained small deviations
from the similarity principle found in high pressure
critical field measurements.

REFERENCES
1. BRANDT N.B. and GINZBURG N.I., Contemp. Phys. 10, 355 (1969).
2. BOUGHTON R.l., OLSEN J.L. and PALMY C., Progress in Low Temperature Physics VI, (Edited by GORTER
C.J.), p. 163, North-Holland, Amsterdam, (1970).
3. PALMY C., FLACH R. and DE TREY P., Proc. mt. Conf Science of Superconductivity, Stanford, California,
(Edited by CHILTON F.), p. 663, North-Holland, Amsterdam (1971).
4. RAO CT., DUBECK L.W. and ROTHWARF F.,Phys. Rev. B7, 1866 (1973).
5. TOXEN A.,Phys. Rev. Lett. 15, 462 (1965).
6. ROTHWARF A., Phys. Lett. 26A, 43 (1967); 28A, 430 (1968).
7. SMITH T.F., Private communication.
8. ZAVARITSKII N.Y., ITSKEVICH E.S. and MINIMA N. YA., Soviet Physics Uspekhi, 14,438 (1972).
Zh. Eksperim i. Teor. Fiz 60, 1408 (1971).
9. ROTHWARF A., ROTHWARF F., RAO C.T. and DUBECK L.W., Proc. Thirteenth tnt. Conf. Low Temperature
Physics, Boulder, Colorado, 1972, to be published.
10. BRANDT N.B., ITSKEVICH E.S. and MINIMA N. YA., Soviet Physics Uspekhi, 14,438 (1972).
II. BERMAN I.V., BRANDT NB. and GINZBURG N.l., Soviet Physics JETP 26, 86 (1968).
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12. ZAVARITSKII N.y., ITSKEVICH E.S. and VORONOVSKJI A.N., Soviet Physics JETP 33, 762 (1971);
Zh. Eksperim. i Teor. Fiz. 60, 1408 (1971). The values of i~/kT~
listed for Sn and In were calculated from the
slope of ~ vs pressure reported by the authors.
13. BRANDT N.B. and BERMAN I.V Soviet Phys. JETPLett. 7, 152 (1968).
.,

14. BOUGHTON R.L., OLSEN J.L. and PALMY C., Progress in Low Temperature Physics VI (Edited by GORTER C.J.)
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Es wird gezeigt, dali die Toxensche Beziehung A/kT~= T~/H~(0) (dHc/dt}rc

benutzt werden kann, um A/kT~als Funktion des Druckes aus bei hohen
Drucken gemessenen Kurven des kritischen Felds zu erhalten. Werte für
Sn, In, Zn, Al, Cd, Ga und Th werden analysiert, und ~(p)/kT~ ist
tabelliert. Für Sn und In werden die so erhaltenen Energielucken mit den
durch Tunneln direckt gemessenen verglichen.