Keldysh study of point-contact tunneling between superconductors

Abstract

We revisit the problem of point-contact tunnel junctions involving one-dimensional superconductors and present a simple scheme for computing the full current-voltage characteristics within the framework of the nonequilibrium Keldysh Green function formalism. We address the effects of different pairing symmetries combined with magnetic fields and finite temperatures at arbitrary bias voltages. We discuss extensively the importance of these results for present-day experiments. In particular, we propose ways of measuring the effects found when the two sides of the junction have dissimilar superconducting gaps and when the symmetry of the superconducting states is not the one of spin-singlet paring. This last point is of relevance for the study of the superconducting state of certain organic materials like the Bechgaard salts and, to some extent, for ruthenium compounds. ©2005 The American Physical Society.