Acoustic attenuation in a type-II superconductor at high magnetic fields

Abstract

We have calculated the longitudinal acoustic attenuation in a type-II superconductor in high magnetic fields within a mean-field BCS theory. We predict two new features in the corresponding attenuation signal as compared to that of the Meissner state. Our analytical calculations predict the existence of oscillations in the attenuation as the external magnetic field is varied- this effect is associated with the Landau level structure of the electron states and is analogous to the well-known de Haas van Alphen oscillations in the mixed state. The attenuation directly probes the quasiparticle energies; the presence of gapless points in the quasiparticle spectrum, which is characteristic of type-II superconductors at high magnetic fields, shows up in the frequency and temperature dependence of the attenuation in the limit of low frequency and low temperature respectively. At low temperature there is no analogue to the discontinuity in the attenuation observed in the Meissner state when $\hbarω=Δ$, where $Δ$ is the quasiparticle gap and $=ω$ is the frequency. This result opens up the possibility of experimentally determining the existence and nature of the gapless points in the quasiparticle spectrum of a type-II superconductor in high magnetic fields.