Universal scaling of the order-parameter distribution in strongly disordered superconductors
G. Lemarié, A. Kamlapure, D. Bucheli, L. Benfatto, J. Lorenzana, G. Seibold, S. C. Ganguli, P. Raychaudhuri, C. Castellani
Abstract
We investigate theoretically and experimentally the statistical properties of the inhomogeneous order-parameter distribution (OPD) at the verge of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT). We find within two prototype fermionic and bosonic models for disordered superconductors that one can identify a universal rescaling of the OPD. By performing scanning-tunneling microscopy experiments in three samples of NbN with increasing disorder we show that such a rescaling describes also with an excellent accuracy the experimental data. These results can provide a breakthrough in our understanding of the SIT.