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 st udying the parity gap and the spectroscopic gap. Both quantities turn out t o be parity dependent and universal functions of the ratio delta/Delta of t he level spacing to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) gap. Pairing correl ations strongly influence the thermodynamic quantities. We discuss the spec ific heat for even and odd grains. The presence of the BCS attractive inter action introduces distinct features even in the limit of ultrasmall grains.