Supercurrents and spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking by nonmagnetic disorder in unconventional superconductors
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Documents
- PhysRevB.105.014504
Final published version, 2.38 MB, PDF document
Recently, a theoretical study [Z.-X. Li , npj Quantum Mater. 6, 36 (2021)2397-464810.1038/s41535-021-00335-4] investigated a model of a disordered d-wave superconductor, and reported local time-reversal symmetry breaking current loops for sufficiently high disorder levels. Since the pure d-wave superconducting state does not break time-reversal symmetry, it is surprising that such persistent currents arise purely from nonmagnetic disorder. Here, we perform a detailed theoretical investigation of such disorder-induced orbital currents, and show that the occurrence of the currents can be traced to the emergence of local (extended) s-wave order coexisting with underlying disordered d-wave pairing, making it favorable to generate local s±id regions. We discuss the energetics leading to such regions of s±id order, which support spontaneous local current loops in the presence of inhomogeneous density modulations.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 014504 |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 105 |
Issue number | 1 |
Number of pages | 8 |
ISSN | 2469-9950 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
©2022 American Physical Society
Links
- https://arxiv.org/pdf/2109.13712.pdf
Submitted manuscript
ID: 308327073