Emergence ofh/e-period oscillations in the critical temperature of small superconducting rings threaded by magnetic flux

Abstract

As a function of the magnetic flux threading the object, the Little-Parks oscillation in the critical temperature of a large-radius, thin-walled superconducting ring or hollow cylinder has a period given by $h/2e$, due to the binding of electrons into Cooper pairs. On the other hand, the single-electron Aharonov-Bohm oscillation in the resistance or persistent current for a clean (i.e., ballistic) normal-state system, having the same topological structure, has a period given by $h/e$. A basic question is whether the Little-Parks oscillation changes its character, as the radius of the superconducting structure becomes smaller, and if it is even comparable to the zero-temperature coherence length. We supplement a physical argument that the $h/e$ oscillations should also be exhibited with a microscopic analysis of this regime, formulated in terms of the Gor'kov approach to BCS theory. We see that, as the radius of the ring is made smaller, an oscillation in the critical temperature of period $h/e$ emerges in addition to the usual Little-Parks $h/2e$-period oscillation. We argue that, in the clean limit, there is a superconductor-normal transition at nonzero flux as the ring radius becomes sufficiently small and that the transition can be either continuous or discontinuous, depending on the radius and the external flux. In the dirty limit, we argue that the transition is rendered continuous, which results in continuous quantum phase transitions tuned by flux and radius.