Thermodynamic properties of Ultrasmall Superconducting Grains

We briefly review some properties of ultrasmall superconducting grains. The ground state and the first excited states of the grains are analysed by studying the parity gap and the spectroscopic gap. Both quantities turn out to be parity dependent and universal functions of the ratio delta/Delta of the level spacing to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) gap. Pairing correlations strongly influence the thermodynamic quantities. We discuss the specific heat for even and odd grains. The presence of the BCS attractive interaction introduces distinct features even in the limit of ultrasmall grains.