Possible Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov superconducting state in CeCoIn5

We report specific heat measurements of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 in the vicinity of the superconducting critical field H(c2), with magnetic fields in the [110], [100], and [001] directions, and at temperatures down to 50 mK. The superconducting phase transition changes from second to first order for fields above 10 T for H parallel [110] and H parallel [100]. In the same range of magnetic fields, we observe a second specific heat anomaly within the superconducting state. We interpret this anomaly as a signature of a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) inhomogeneous superconducting state. We obtain similar results for H parallel [001], with the FFLO state occupying a smaller part of the phase diagram.     

Bogoliubov angle and visualization of particle-hole mixture in superconductors

Superconducting excitations—Bogoliubov quasiparticles—are the quantum mechanical mixture of negatively charged electron (−e) and positively charged hole (+e). Depending on the applied voltage bias in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) one can sample the particle and hole content of such a superconducting excitation. Recent STM experiments offer a unique insight into the inner workings of the superconducting state of superconductors. We propose a new observable quantity for STM studies that is the manifestation of the particle-hole dualism of the quasiparticles. We call it a Bogoliubov angle. This angle measures the relative weight of particle and hole amplitude in the superconducting (Bogoliubov) quasiparticle. We propose that this quantity can be measured locally by comparing the ratio of tunneling currents at positive and negative biases locally. This Bogoliubov angle allows one to measure directly the energy and position dependent particle-hole admixture and therefore visualize robustness of superconducting state locally. It may also allow one to measure the particle-hole admixture of excitations in normal state above critical temperature and thus may be used to measure superconducting correlations in pseudogap state.     

Evidence for two energy scales in the superconducting state of optimally doped (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2CuO6+delta

We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the energy gap(s) in (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2CuO6+delta. We find that the spectral gap has two components in the superconducting state: a superconducting gap and pseudogap. Differences in their momentum and temperature dependence suggest that they represent two separate energy scales. Spectra near the node reveal a sharp peak with a small gap below T(c) that closes at T(c). Near the antinode, spectra are broad with a large energy gap of approximately 40 meV above and below T(c). The latter spectral shape and gap magnitude are almost constant across T(c), indicating that the pseudogap state coexists with the superconducting state below T(c), and it dominates spectra around the antinode. We speculate that the pseudogap state competes with the superconductivity by diminishing spectral weight in antinodal regions, where the superconducting gap is largest.     

Entanglement of Two Superconducting Charge Qubits Induced by Quantized Radiation Field

We consider two superconducting charge qubits coupled by a single-mode quantized field. We suppose that the two superconducting charge qubits be initially prepared in the mixed and separable state. As time evolves, we will investigate the entanglement between two superconducting charge qubits induced by the quantized field.     

Spin injection and relaxation in a mesoscopic superconductor

We study spin transport in a superconducting nanowire using a set of closely spaced magnetic tunnel contacts. We observe a giant enhancement of the spin accumulation of up to 5 orders of magnitude on transition into the superconducting state, consistent with the expected changes in the density of states. The spin relaxation length decreases by an order of magnitude from its value in the normal state. These measurements, combined with our theoretical model, allow us to distinguish the individual spin-flip mechanisms present in the transport channel. Our conclusion is that magnetic impurities rather than spin-orbit coupling dominate spin-flip scattering in the superconducting state.     

三维介观超导环的涡旋结构

在Ginzburg-Landan理论的框架下, 运用有限差分法研究了在圆环电流产生磁场下的介观超导圆环内的涡旋结构, 讨论了超导圆环尺寸和不同空间分布的磁场对涡旋形成的影响, 得到在一般超导圆环体内的基态多是巨涡旋态、而多涡旋态多以激发态形式存在的结论, 说明磁场一般从超导圆环的环孔穿过, 而很难穿过超导圆环体.     

Observation of spin susceptibility enhancement in the possible Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state of CeCoIn(5)

We report (115)In nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn(5) in the vicinity of the superconducting critical field H(c2) for a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the ? axis. A possible inhomogeneous superconducting state, the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state, is stabilized in this part of the phase diagram. In an 11 T applied magnetic field, we observe clear signatures of the two phase transitions: the higher temperature one to the homogeneous superconducting state and the lower temperature phase transition to a FFLO state. We find that the spin susceptibility in the putative FFLO state is significantly enhanced as compared to the value in a homogeneous superconducting state. The implications of this finding for the nature of the low temperature phase are discussed.     

关于强电声子耦合系统基态的一个注记

本文提出强电声子耦合系统的一个新的变分基态。在此态中电子子系统处于超导对态而声子子系统处于双声子相干态。我们证明为了得到正确的超导凝聚能而且载流子的有效质量又不至于太大,这样的变分态是必须的。 关键词：     

Quasiparticles in the superconducting state of high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> metals

We consider the behavior of quasiparticles in the superconducting state of high-T_c metals within the framework of the theory of the superconducting state based on the fermion condensation quantum phase transition. We show that the behavior coincides with the behavior of Bogoliubov quasiparticles, whereas the maximum value of the superconducting gap and other exotic properties are determined by the presence of the fermion condensate. If at low temperatures the normal state is recovered by the application of a magnetic field suppressing the superconductivity, the induced state can be viewed as a Landau-Fermi liquid. These observations are in good agreement with recent experimental facts.     

Aharonov-Bohm effect in the superconducting LOFF state

We study the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of the transition temperature, paraconductivity, and specific heat of a thin ring in the regime of the inhomogeneous Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell superconducting state. We found that, in contrast to the uniform superconductivity, the magnetic flux might increase the critical temperature of the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell state. The degeneracy of the inhomogeneous superconducting state reveals in a double peak structure of the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Superconductivity in the two-band Hubbard model in infinite dimensions

We study a two-band Hubbard model in the limit of infinite dimensions, using a combination of analytical methods and Monte-Carlo techniques. The normal state is found to display various metal to insulators transitions as a function of doping and interaction strength. We derive self-consistent equations for the local Green's functions in the presence of superconducting long-range order, and extend previous algorithms to this case. We present direct numerical evidence that in a specific range of parameter space, the normal state is unstable against a superconducting state characterized by a strongly frequency dependent order-parameter.     

A model for coexistent superconductivity and ferromagnetism

We explore the various temperature dependences and thermodynamic quantities of a mean-field model of a ferromagnetic–superconducting system. The starting point for this model is based on an s-wave pairing scheme in the singlet channel of the superconducting state and a spontaneously broken-symmetry phase in the ferromagnetic state. We show numerically and analytically that a state of coexistence reveals itself and is favoured energetically over other possible states, and a simple phase diagram is developed. Finally, a comparison of the specific heat with experiment is shown.     

Superconductivity in an organic insulator at very high magnetic fields

We investigate by electrical transport the field-induced superconducting state (FISC) in the organic conductor lambda-(BETS)2FeCl4. Below 4 K, antiferromagnetic-insulator, metallic, and eventually superconducting (FISC) ground states are observed with increasing in-plane magnetic field. The FISC state survives between 18 and 41 T and can be interpreted in terms of the Jaccarino-Peter effect, where the external magnetic field compensates the exchange field of aligned Fe3+ ions. We further argue that the Fe3+ moments are essential to stabilize the resulting singlet, two-dimensional superconducting state.     

Relaxation of the magnetic state of a ferromagnetic–superconducting layered structure

We have proposed a real-time method of neutron reflectometry. The magnetic state of the Ta/V/FM/Nb/Si ferromagnetic–superconducting system has been analyzed. Relaxation of the inhomogeneous magnetic state with a characteristic time of several hours, which depends on the magnetic field magnitude and temperature, has been observed. The relaxation of the domain structure has changed upon a transition of the V and Nb layers to the superconducting state. It has been concluded that real-time reflectometry data for polarized neutrons are important for determining the origin of magnetism in ferromagnetic–superconducting layered structures.     

Multiple superconducting phases in new heavy fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12

The superconducting gap structure of recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12 was investigated by using thermal transport measurements in magnetic field rotated relative to the crystal axes. We demonstrate that a novel change in the symmetry of the superconducting gap function occurs deep inside the superconducting state, giving a clear indication of the presence of two distinct superconducting phases with twofold and fourfold symmetries. We infer that the gap functions in both phases have a point node singularity, in contrast to the familiar line node singularity observed in almost all unconventional superconductors.     

Possible Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov inhomogeneous superconducting state in CeCoIn5

We present specific heat and thermal conductivity of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 in the vicinity of the superconducting critical fieldH _c2, measured with magnetic field in the plane of this quasi-2D compound and at temperatures down to 50 mK. The superconducting phase diagram and the first order nature of the superconducting phase transition at high fields close to a critical fieldH _c2 indicate the importance of the Pauli limiting effect in CeCoIn₅. In the same range of magnetic field we observe a second specific heat anomaly within the superconducting state, and interpret it as a signature of a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) inhomogeneous superconducting state. In addition, the thermal conductivity data as a function of field display a kink at a fieldH _k below the superconducting critical field, which closely coincides with the low temperature anomaly in specific heat tentatively identified with the appearance of the FFLO superconducting state. The enhancement of thermal conductivity within the FFLO state calls for further theoretical investigations of the real space structure of the order parameter (and in particular, the structure of vortices) and of the thermal transport within the inhomogeneous FFLO state.     

Topological quantum memory interfacing atomic and superconducting qubits

We propose a scheme to manipulate a topological spin qubit which is realized with cold atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice. In particular, by introducing a quantum opto-electro-mechanical interface, we are able to first transfer a superconducting qubit state to an atomic qubit state and then to store it into the topological spin qubit. In this way, an efficient topological quantum memory could be constructed for the superconducting qubit. Therefore, we can consolidate the advantages of both the noise resistance of the topological qubits and the scalability of the superconducting qubits in this hybrid architecture.     

Pressure-induced enhancement of the superconducting properties of single-crystalline FeTe0.5Se0.5

The pressure dependence, up to 11.3 kbar, of basic parameters of the superconducting state, such as the critical temperature (T(c)), the lower and the upper critical fields, the coherence length, the penetration depth, and their anisotropy, was determined from magnetic measurements performed for two single-crystalline samples of FeTe(0.5)Se(0.5). We have found pressure-induced enhancement of all of the superconducting state properties, which entails a growth of the density of superconducting carriers. However, we noticed a more pronounced increase in the superconducting carrier density under pressure than that in the critical temperature which may indicate an appearance of a mechanism limiting the increase of T(c) with pressure. We have observed that the critical current density increases under pressure by at least one order of magnitude.     

Quantum phase diagram of granular superconducting quantum dots array

We study the quantum phase diagram of granular superconducting quantum dots (GSQD) array. We implement the physics of granularity by considering site dependent Josephson couplings, on-site charging energies and the intersite interactions. We predict dimer density wave and staggered phases at the insulating state for higher order commensurability. Several parts of the quantum phase diagram of GSQD are in contrast with the clean superconducting quantum dots array. We also obtain the superconducting phase of GSQD. We develop the theory for weak tunneling conductance and the Coulomb energy is smaller than the superconducting gap.     

Topological Superconductivity in Cu(x)Bi(2)Se(3)

A topological superconductor (TSC) is characterized by the topologically protected gapless surface state that is essentially an Andreev bound state consisting of Majorana fermions. While a TSC has not yet been discovered, the doped topological insulator Cu(x)Bi(2)Se(3), which superconducts below ～3 K, has been predicted to possess a topological superconducting state. We report that the point-contact spectra on the cleaved surface of superconducting Cu(x)Bi(2)Se(3) present a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) which signifies unconventional superconductivity. Theoretical considerations of all possible superconducting states help us conclude that this ZBCP is due to Majorana fermions and gives evidence for a topological superconductivity in Cu(x)Bi(2)Se(3). In addition, we found an unusual pseudogap that develops below ～20 K and coexists with the topological superconducting state.