Macroscopic anisotropy in superconductors with anisotropic gaps

Abstract

It is shown within the weak-coupling model that the macroscopic superconducting anisotropy for materials with the gap varying on the Fermi surface cannot be characterized by a single number, unlike the case of clean materials with isotropic gaps. For clean uniaxial materials, the anisotropy parameter $γ(T)$ defined as the ratio of London penetration depths, $λ_c/λ_{ab}$, is evaluated for all $T$'s. Within the two-gap model of MgB$_2$, $γ(T)$ is an increasing function of $T$.