A second superconducting energy gap of Nb_3Sn observed by breakjunction point-contact spectroscopy

Abstract

We report on investigations of the superconducting energy gap of the A15 superconductor Nb_3Sn by point-contact spectroscopy of breakjunctions. The voltage-dependent differential conductance dI/dV reveals features of a second energy gap besides the energy gap known from previous tunnel measurements with maxima at Δ_1=3.92 +/- 0.16 meV and Δ_2=0.85 +/- 0.17 meV as derived from a histogram summarizing the data of more than 60 contacts. These findings are the first spectroscopic evidence that Nb_3Sn belongs to the class of two-band superconductors and they are in line with low-temperature specific-heat measurements on Nb_3Sn.