Hierarchies of Length Scale Based Typology in Anisotropic Multiband Superconductor
Since Ginzburg and Landau's seminal work in 1950 superconducting states have been classified by the hierarchy of the fundamental length scales of the theory; the magnetic field penetration lengths and coherence lengths. In the simplest single-component case they form a dimensionless ratio \kappa. As pointed out by Ginzburg in 1952, in general the ratio depends on the direction of the applied magnetic field due to material anisotropies. Single component materials can therefore display type-1 superconductivity when the field is applied in one direction and type-2 when the field is applied in a different direction. In this paper we expand the above length scale analysis to anisotropic multi-co…
Properties of dirty two-band superconductors with repulsive interband interaction: Normal modes, length scales, vortices, and magnetic response
Disorder in two-band superconductors with repulsive interband interaction induces a frustrated competition between the phase-locking preferences of the various potential and kinetic terms. This frustrated interaction can result in the formation of an $s+is$ superconducting state, that breaks the time-reversal symmetry. In this paper we study the normal modes and their associated coherence lengths in such materials. We especially focus on the consequences of the soft modes stemming from the frustration and time-reversal-symmetry breakdown. We find that two-bands superconductors with such impurity-induced frustrated interactions display a rich spectrum of physical properties that are absent i…
Hierarchies of length-scale based typology in anisotropic U(1)s -wave multiband superconductors
Since Ginzburg and Landau's seminal work in 1950, superconducting states have been classified by the hierarchy of the fundamental length scales of the theory, the magnetic-field penetration lengths ...
Unusual resistive states of multiband superconductors in the effective field theory approach
Starting from the microscopic approach based on multiband Keldysh-Usadel kinetic theory we derive the minimal field-theoretical model equivalent to the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory. We discuss the properties of resistive states determined by the ratio of electric field relaxation length to the superconducting coherence length. In contrast to the well-studied single-band systems we find that this ratio can vary in wide limits in multiband superconductors. As a result, the properties of resistive states in multiband superconductors can be tuned by the microscopic parameters such as the ratio of diffusion coefficients and pairing constants in different bands. As an example we consider…
Field-induced coexistence of s++ and s± superconducting states in dirty multiband superconductors
In multiband systems, such as iron-based superconductors, the superconducting states with locking and antilocking of the interband phase differences are usually considered as mutually exclusive. For example, a dirty two-band system with interband impurity scattering undergoes a sharp crossover between the s± state (which favors phase antilocking) and the s++ state (which favors phase locking). We discuss here that the situation can be much more complex in the presence of an external field or superconducting currents. In an external applied magnetic field, dirty two-band superconductors do not feature a sharp s±→s++ crossover but rather a washed-out crossover to a finite region in the parame…
Change of the vortex core structure in two-band superconductors at impurity-scattering-driven $s_\pm/s_{++}$ crossover
We report a nontrivial transition in the core structure of vortices in two-band superconductors as a function of interband impurity scattering. We demonstrate that, in addition to singular zeros of the order parameter, the vortices there can acquire a circular nodal line around the singular point in one of the superconducting components. It results in the formation of the peculiar "moat"-like profile in one of the superconducting gaps. The moat-core vortices occur generically in the vicinity of the impurity-induced crossover between $s_{\pm}$ and $s_{++}$ states.
Field-induced coexistence of s++ and s± superconducting states in dirty multiband superconductors
In multiband systems, such as iron-based superconductors, the superconducting states with locking and antilocking of the interband phase differences are usually considered as mutually exclusive. Fo ...
Skyrmion formation due to unconventional magnetic modes in anisotropic multiband superconductors
Multiband superconductors have a sufficient number of degrees of freedom to allow topological excitations characterized by Skyrmionic topological invariants. In the most common, clean s-wave multiband, systems the interband magnetic coupling favours composite vortex solutions, without a Skyrmionic topological charge. It was discussed recently that certain kinds of anisotropies lead to hybridisation of the interband phase difference (Leggett) mode with magnetic modes, dramatically changing the hydromagnetostatics of the system. Here we report this effect for a range of parameters that substantially alter the nature of the topological excitations, leading to solutions characterized by a nontr…
Non-London electrodynamics in a multiband London model : anisotropy-induced nonlocalities and multiple magnetic field penetration lengths
The London model describes strongly type-2 superconductors as massive vector field theories, where the magnetic field decays exponentially at the length scale of the London penetration length. This also holds for isotropic multi-band extensions, where the presence of multiple bands merely renormalises the London penetration length. We show that, by contrast, the magnetic properties of anisotropic multi-band London models are not this simple, and the anisotropy leads to the inter-band phase differences becoming coupled to the magnetic field. This results in the magnetic field in such systems having N+1 penetration lengths, where N is the number of field components or bands. That is, in a giv…
Phase diagram of dirty two-band superconductors and observability of impurity-induced s + i s state
We investigate the phase diagram of dirty two-band superconductors. This paper primarily focuses on the properties and observability of the time-reversal symmetry-breaking s + is superconducting states, which can be generated in two-band superconductors by interband impurity scattering. We show that such states can appear in two distinct ways. First, according to a previously discussed scenario, the s + is state can form as an intermediate phase at the impurity-driven crossover between s± and s++ states. We show that there is a second scenario where domains of the s + is state exists in the form of an isolated dome inside the s± domain, completely detached from the transition between s± and…
Field-induced coexistence of $s_{++}$ and $s_{\pm}$ superconducting states in dirty multiband superconductors
In multiband systems, such as iron-based superconductors, the superconducting states with locking and anti-locking of the interband phase differences, are usually considered as mutually exclusive. For example, a dirty two-band system with interband impurity scattering undergoes a sharp crossover between the $s_{\pm}$ state (which favors phase anti locking) and the $s_{++}$ state (which favors phase locking). We discuss here that the situation can be much more complex in the presence of an external field or superconducting currents. In an external applied magnetic field, dirty two-band superconductors do not feature a sharp $s_{\pm}\to s_{++}$ crossover but rather a washed-out crossover to a…
Change of the vortex core structure in two-band superconductors at the impurity-scattering-driven s±/s++ crossover
We report a nontrivial transition in the core structure of vortices in two-band superconductors as a function of interband impurity scattering. We demonstrate that, in addition to singular zeros of the order parameter, the vortices there can acquire a circular nodal line around the singular point in one of the superconducting components. It results in the formation of the peculiar “moat”-like profile in one of the superconducting gaps. The moat-core vortices occur generically in the vicinity of the impurity-induced crossover between s± and s++ states. peerReviewed
Skyrmion formation due to unconventional magnetic modes in anisotropic multiband superconductors
Multiband superconductors have a sufficient number of degrees of freedom to allow topological excitations characterized by skyrmionic topological invariants. In the most common, clean s -wave multiband systems, the interband Josephson and magnetic couplings favor composite vortex solutions, without a skyrmionic topological charge. It was discussed recently that certain kinds of anisotropies lead to hybridization of the interband phase difference (Leggett) mode with magnetic modes, dramatically changing the hydromagnetostatics of the system. Here we report this effect for a range of parameters that substantially alter the nature of the topological excitations, leading to solutions characteri…
Change of the vortex core structure in two-band superconductors at the impurity-scattering-driven s±/s++ crossover
We report a nontrivial transition in the core structure of vortices in two-band superconductors as a function of interband impurity scattering. We demonstrate that, in addition to singular zeros of the order parameter, the vortices there can acquire a circular nodal line around the singular point in one of the superconducting components. It results in the formation of the peculiar ``moat''-like profile in one of the superconducting gaps. The moat-core vortices occur generically in the vicinity of the impurity-induced crossover between ${s}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ and ${s}_{++}$ states.
Comment on the paper by D. Efremov and Yu.N. Ovchinnikov "Singular ground state of multiband inhomogeneous superconductors", Phys. Rev. B 99, 224508 (2019)
We show that the conclusion reported in Ref. 1, that there are no spontaneous magnetic fields in multiband superconductors that break time reversal symmetry, is incorrect. We demonstrate that the state proposed in Ref. 1 is not a solution of the Ginzburg-Landau equations for the considered model. The reason is that in Ref. 1 one of the Ginzburg-Landau equations is neglected and substituted by the spurious zero current restriction. This restriction together with all of the Ginzburg-Landau equations leads to an overdetermined system which does not have a solution. This inconsistency invalidates all the results of the paper.
Hierarchies of length-scale based typology in anisotropic U(1)s-wave multiband superconductors
Since Ginzburg and Landau's seminal work in 1950, superconducting states have been classified by the hierarchy of the fundamental length scales of the theory, the magnetic-field penetration lengths and coherence lengths. In the simplest single-component case they form a dimensionless ratio κ. The model was generalized by Ginzburg for anisotropic materials in 1952. In this paper we expand the above length-scale analysis to anisotropic multicomponent superconductors that can have multiple coherence lengths as well as multiple magnetic-field penetration lengths, leading to unconventional length-scale hierarchies. We demonstrate that the anisotropies in multiband superconductors lead to new reg…
Phase diagram of dirty two-band superconductors and observability of impurity-induced $s+is$ state
We investigate the phase diagram of dirty two-band superconductors. This paper primarily focuses on the properties and observability of the time-reversal symmetry-breaking $s+is$ superconducting states, which can be generated in two-band superconductors by interband impurity scattering. We show that such states can appear in two distinct ways. First, according to a previously discussed scenario, the $s+is$ state can form as an intermediate phase at the impurity-driven crossover between $s_{\pm}$ and $s_{++}$ states. We show that there is a second scenario where domains of the $s+is$ state exists in the form of an isolated dome inside the $s_{\pm}$ domain, completely detached from the transi…