No Arabic abstract
Superconductivity in the t-J model is studied by extending the recently introduced extremely correlated fermi liquid theory. Exact equations for the Greens functions are obtained by generalizing Gorkovs equations to include extremely strong local repulsion between electrons of opposite spin. These equation are expanded in a parameter $lambda$ representing the fraction of double occupancy, and the lowest order equations are further simplified near $T_c$, resulting in an approximate integral equation for the superconducting gap. The condition for $T_c$ is studied using a model spectral function embodying a reduced quasiparticle weight $Z$ near half-filling, yielding an approximate analytical formula for $T_c$. This formula is evaluated using parameters representative of single layer High-$T_c$ systems. In a narrow range of electron densities that is necessarily separated from the Mott-Hubbard insulator at half filling, we find superconductivity with a typical $T_c$$sim$$10^2$K.
The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) phase is an unconventional superconducting state found under the influence of strong Zeeman field. This phase is identified by finite center-of-mass momenta in the Cooper pairs, causing the pairing amplitude to oscillate in real space. Repulsive correlations, on the other hand, smear out spatial inhomogeneities in d-wave superconductors. We investigate the FFLO state in a strongly correlated d-wave superconductor within a consolidated framework of Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory and Gutzwiller approximation. We find that the profound effects of strong correlations lie in shifting the BCS-FFLO phase boundary towards a lower Zeeman field and thereby enlarging the window of the FFLO phase. In the FFLO state, our calculation features a sharp mid-gap peak in the density of states, indicating the formation of strongly localized Andreev bound states. We also find that the signatures of the FFLO phase survive even in the presence of an additional translational symmetry breaking competing order in the ground state. This is demonstrated by considering a broken symmetry ground state with a simultaneous presence of the d-wave superconducting order and a spin-density wave order, often found in unconventional superconductors.
We use femtosecond optical spectroscopy to systematically measure the primary energy relaxation rate k1 of photoexcited carriers in cuprate and pnictide superconductors. We find that k1 increases monotonically with increased negative strain in the crystallographic a-axis. Generally, the Bardeen-Shockley deformation potential theorem and, specifically, pressure-induced Raman shifts reported in the literature suggest that increased negative strain enhances electron-phonon coupling, which implies that the observed direct correspondence between a and k1 is consistent with the canonical assignment of k1 to the electron-phonon interaction. The well-known non-monotonic dependence of the superconducting critical temperature Tc on the a-axis strain is also reflected in a systematic dependence Tc on k1, with a distinct maximum at intermediate values (~16 ps-1 at room temperature). The empirical non-monotonic systematic variation of Tc with the strength of the electron-phonon interaction provides us with unique insight into the role of electron-phonon interaction in relation to the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity as a crossover phenomenon.
When a continuous symmetry of a physical system is spontaneously broken, two types of collective modes typically emerge: the amplitude and phase modes of the order-parameter fluctuation. For superconductors, the amplitude mode is recently referred to as the Higgs mode as it is a condensed-matter analogue of a Higgs boson in particle physics. Higgs mode is a scalar excitation of the order parameter, distinct from charge or spin fluctuations, and thus does not couple to electromagnetic fields linearly. This is why the Higgs mode in superconductors has evaded experimental observations over a half century after the initial theoretical prediction, except for a charge-density-wave coexisting system. With the advance of nonlinear and time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy techniques, however, it has become possible to study the Higgs mode through the nonlinear light-Higgs coupling. In this review, we overview recent progresses on the study of the Higgs mode in superconductors.
Disorder - impurities and defects violating an ideal order - is always present in solids. It can result in interesting and sometimes unexpected effects in multiband superconductors. Especially if the superconductivity is unconventional thus having other than the usual s-wave symmetry. This paper uses the examples of iron-based pnictides and chalcogenides to examine how both nonmagnetic and magnetic impurities affect superconducting states with $s_pm$ and $s_{++}$ order parameters. We show that disorder causes the transitions between $s_pm$ and $s_{++}$ states and examine observable effects these transitions can produce.
We consider a problem of superconductivity coexistence with the spin-density-wave order in disordered multiband metals. It is assumed that random variations of the disorder potential on short length scales render the interactions between electrons to develop spatial correlations. As a consequence, both superconducting and magnetic order parameters become spatially inhomogeneous and are described by the universal phenomenological quantities, whereas all the microscopic details are encoded in the correlation function of the coupling strength fluctuations. We consider a minimal model with two nested two-dimensional Fermi surfaces and disorder potentials which include both intra- and inter-band scattering. The model is analyzed using the quasiclassical approach to show that short-scale pairing-potential disorder leads to a broadening of the coexistence region.