BCS Theoroy

An intuitive description of superconductivity is sufficient for public and non-technical uses. However, ultimately, a more rigorous mathematically- based explanation must be formulated. Superconductivity was not sufficiently explained until 1957 when John Bardeen and his graduate assistants Leon Cooper and John Schreiffer proposed a microscopic explanation that would later be their namesake: the BCS Theory. This theoretical explanation later earned them the Nobel prize, making John Bardeen the only man in history to be awarded this honor twice.

The BCS Theory is, in its simplest form, actually contradictory to our crude macroscopic view expressed earlier. As discussed earlier, superconductivity arises because electrons do not interact destructively with atoms in the crystal lattice of the material. The BCS Theory says that electrons do actually interact with the atoms, but constructively.

The BCS Theory makes a crucial assumption at the beginning: that an attractive force exists between electrons. In typical Type I superconductors, this force is due to Coulomb attraction between the electron and the crystal lattice. An electron in the lattice will cause a slight increase in positive charges around it. This increase in positive charge will, in turn, attract another electron. These two electrons are known as a Cooper pair. If the energy required to bind these electrons together is less than the energy from the thermal vibrations of the lattice attempting to break them apart, the pair will remain bound. This explains (roughly) why superconductivity requires low temperatures- the thermal vibration of the lattice must be small enough to allow the forming of Cooper pairs. In a superconductor, the current is made up of these Cooper pairs, rather than individual electrons.