How spin-flip scattering influences the minigap in a S-N junction

A superconductor in contact with a normal metal modifies the behaviour of the electrons in the normal part (”proximity effect”). The electrons in the adjacent normal metal will exhibit superconducting properties like: • apparition of an energy gap in the density of states • modification of the conductance (strongly dependent on energy) • screening of a magnetic field The scale at which these properties can be observed is a so called ”mesoscopic scale”, characterised by the presence of a sufficient number of particles to use statistical methods but still showing a non negligible phase coherence effect. In this work, we will study the influence of inelastic and spin-flip scattering on the electron density of states in diffusive S-N junctions.