No Arabic abstract
In this paper we demonstrate the necessity of including the generally omitted collective mode contributions in calculations of the Meissner effect for non-uniform superconductors. We consider superconducting pairing with non-zero center of mass momentum, as is relevant to high transition temperature cuprates, cold atoms, and quantum chromodynamic superconductors. For the concrete example of the Fulde-Ferrell phase we present a quantitative calculation of the superfluid density, showing the collective mode contributions are not only appreciable but that they derive from the amplitude mode of the order parameter. This latter mode (related to the Higgs mode in a charged system) is generally viewed as being invisible in conventional superconductors. However, our analysis shows that it is extremely important in pair-density wave type superconductors, where it destroys superfluidity well before the mean-field order parameter vanishes.
We theoretically find that finite size Fulde-Ferrell (FF) superconductor (which is characterized by spatially nonuniform ground state $Psi sim text{exp}(-i{bf q}_{FF}{bf r})$ and $|Psi|(r)=const$ in the bulk case, where $Psi$ is a superconducting order parameter) has paramagnetic Meissner, vortex and onion ground states with $|Psi|(r) eq const$. These states are realized due to boundary effect when the lateral size of superconductor $L sim 1/q_{FF}$. We argue, that predicted states could be observed in thin disk/square made of superconductor-ferromagnet-normal metal trilayer with $L simeq 150-600 nm$.
The Fulde-Ferrell (FF) superfluid phase, in which fermions form finite-momentum Cooper pairings, is well studied in spin-singlet superfluids in past decades. Different from previous works that engineer the FF state in spinful cold atoms, we show that the FF state can emerge in spinless Fermi gases confined in optical lattice associated with nearest-neighbor interactions. The mechanism of the spinless FF state relies on the split Fermi surfaces by tuning the chemistry potential, which naturally gives rise to finite-momentum Cooper pairings. The phase transition is accompanied by changed Chern numbers, in which, different from the conventional picture, the band gap does not close. By beyond-mean-field calculations, we find the finite-momentum pairing is more robust, yielding the system promising for maintaining the FF state at finite temperature. Finally we present the possible realization and detection scheme of the spinless FF state.
The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state is a superconducting state stabilized by a large Zeeman splitting between up- and down-spin electrons in a singlet superconductor. In the absence of disorder, the superconducting order parameter has a periodic spatial structure, with periodicity determined by the Zeeman splitting. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) approach, we investigate the spatial profiles of the order parameters of FFLO states in a two-dimensional s-wave superconductors with nonmagnetic impurities. The FFLO state is found to survive under moderate disorder strength, and the order parameter structure remains approximately periodic. The actual structure of the order parameter depends on not only the Zeeman field, but also the disorder strength and in particular the specific disorder configuration.
The Higgs mode associated with amplitude fluctuations of the superconducting gap in uniform superconductors usually is heavy, which makes its excitation and detection difficult. We report on the existence of a gapless Higgs mode in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states. This feature is originated from the Goldstone mode associated with the translation symmetry breaking. The existence of the gapless Higgs mode is demonstrated by using both a phenomenological model and microscopic Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory. The gapless Higgs mode can avoid the decay into other low energy excitations, which renders it stable and detectable.
The Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state has received renewed interest recently due to the experimental indication of its presence in CeCoIn$_5$, a quasi 2-dimensional (2D) d-wave superconductor. However direct evidence of the spatial variation of the superconducting order parameter, which is the hallmark of the FFLO state, does not yet exist. In this work we explore the possibility of detecting the phase structure of the order parameter directly using conductance spectroscopy through micro-constrictions, which probes the phase sensitive surface Andreev bound states of d-wave superconductors. We employ the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formalism to calculate the conductance characteristics between a normal metal (N) and a 2D $s$- or $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductor in the Fulde-Ferrell state, for all barrier parameter $z$ from the point contact limit ($z=0$) to the tunneling limit ($z gg 1$). We find that the zero-bias conductance peak due to these surface Andreev bound states observed in the uniform d-wave superconductor is split and shifted in the Fulde-Ferrell state. We also clarify what weighted bulk density of states is measured by the conductance in the limit of large $z$.