Andreev states near short-ranged pairing potential impurities.
We study Andreev states near atomic scale modulations in the pairing potential in both s- and d-wave superconductors with short coherence lengths. For a moderate reduction of the local gap, the states exist only close to the gap edge. If one allows for local sign changes of the order parameter, however, resonances can occur at energies close to the Fermi level. The local density of states (LDOS) around such pairing potential defects strongly resembles the patterns observed by tunneling measurements around Zn impurities in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (BSCCO). We discuss how this phase impurity model of the Zn LDOS pattern can be distinguished from other proposals experimentally.
Andersen
Brian M
BM
Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-8440, USA.
Melikyan
Ashot
A
Nunner
Tamara S
TS
Hirschfeld
P J
PJ