Supercurrents and spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking by nonmagnetic disorder in unconventional superconductors

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

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 languageEnglish
Article number014504
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume105
Issue number1
Number of pages8
ISSN2469-9950
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
©2022 American Physical Society

Links

ID: 308327073