Magnetic Susceptibility of Superconducting Films in the Meissner-London Regime

Abstract

Extracting the London penetration depth, $λ(T)$, from the measured magnetic susceptibility, $χ(T)$, of a superconducting platelet in a perpendicular magnetic field requires knowing the function $χ(λ)$ computed for the actual sample geometry. Thin films are increasingly important in quantum computing and superconducting electronics, most of which operate at ultra-low excitation fields in the vortex-free regime. Understanding their electromagnetic response in the Meissner--London (finite-$λ$, no vortices) state is therefore essential for extracting intrinsic properties such as the London penetration depth and superfluid phase stiffness. While numerous prior works have addressed different aspects of this problem, here we focus on providing an analytical semi-empirical representation of $χ(λ)$ based on the 2D sheet-current model and establishing the limits of its applicability using two independent full 3D numerical solutions: finite-element modeling and a volume-current integral equation. As a result, we provide $χ(λ)$ for a disc of radius $a$ and thickness $d$ in closed form, valid for all $λ$ and for aspect ratios $δ\equiv d/(2a)\le0.05$, and accurate to $0.1\%$. The two-dimensional sheet description with Pearl length $Λ=2λ^2/d$ is adequate for $δ\lesssim10^{-4}$ and $λ\gtrsim 4d$. Thicker films require the full closed form, which includes the three-dimensional corrections. Using the same numerical analysis, we provide an empirical formula that maps rectangular samples---the geometry most commonly used in experiments---onto a disc with an ``effective radius'' for subsequent calculation of $χ(λ)$, and formulate a complete calibration protocol for whole-sample susceptibility measurements.