Theory of periodically driven, current-carrying superconducting filaments. II. Stability limits of the homogeneous state. Periodic and chaotic phase-slip states

Using the generalized time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations for dirty superconductors in local equilibrium, the authors determine the stability limits of the homogeneous superconducting state in high-frequency, current-carrying filaments. For weak pair-breaking by inelastic scattering, the instability sets in when the gap is depressed by the current to the universal ratio (2/3)1/2. In the unstable region (and beyond it) there exist stable ac phase-slip solutions. In appropriate ranges of frequency and temperature, they exhibit complex time behavior with period-doubling and intermittency-type transition to chaos