Temperature dependence of penetration and coherence lengths in lead nanowires

Magnetization curves well below T-c of a lead nanowire array electrodeposited under pulsed voltage conditions are considered. Numerical simulations based on a two-dimensional resolution (2D model) of the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equations for cylindrical configurations have also been developed. By freely adjusting the GL phenomenological lengths lambda(T) and epsilon(T), the experimental magnetization curves are reproduced to within a 10% error margin. The 2D model also allows us to check the cylindrical symmetry of the obtained configurations. Beyond the experimental-theoretical agreement, the question of whether the GL model remains valid far below T-c is also addressed. The temperature dependence of the adjusted characteristic lengths is compared with different theoretical and empirical laws. The most satisfactory agreement is achieved for the Gorter-Casimir two-fluid model. A comparison with a lead nanowire array electrodeposited under constant voltage conditions allows us to distinguish both samples in terms of their electronic mean free paths. The characterization of the latter quantities concurs perfectly with the experimental expectation given the different electrodeposition techniques.