Abstract
In many two-dimensional superconducting systems1,2,3,4, such as Josephson-junction arrays, granular superconducting films, and the high-temperature superconductors, it appears that the electrons bind into Cooper pairs below a pairing temperature (TP) that is well above the Kosterlitz–Thouless temperature (TKT, the temperature below which there is long-range superconducting order5,6,7,8,9,10). The electron dynamics at temperatures between TKT and TP involve a complex interplay of thermal and quantum fluctuations, for which no quantitative theory exists. Here we report numerical results for this region, by exploiting its proximity to a T = 0 superconductor–insulator quantum phase transition11,12. This quantum critical point need not be experimentally accessible for our results to apply. We characterize the static, thermodynamic properties by a single dimensionless parameter, γ(T). Quantitative and universal results are obtained for the frequency dependence of the conductivity, which are dependent only upon γ(T) and fundamental constants of nature.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. Orenstein, D. Grempel and A. Sudbø for useful discussions, and the Division of Materials Theory of the National Science Foundation for support.
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Sachdev, S., Starykh, O. Thermally fluctuating superconductors in two dimensions. Nature 405, 322–325 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35012530
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35012530
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