Skip to main content
Springer logoLink to Springer
. 2024 Jan 9;37(2):325–338. doi: 10.1007/s10948-023-06664-8

Unusual Sequence of the Critical Magnetic Fields Hc1, Hc2, and Hc in Multicomponent Superconductors

YuN Ovchinnikov 1, DV Efremov 2,
PMCID: PMC10850198  PMID: 38343881

Abstract

All superconductors in a magnetic field are characterized by three critical magnetic fields: lower critical Hc1, upper critical Hc2 and thermodynamic critical field Hc. Only two sets of inequalities Hc2>Hc>Hc1 or Hc1>Hc>Hc2 are possible in a single-component superconductor. Here, we report our study of the critical fields in multicomponent superconductors with two superconducting components in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau functional. We derive the relationship between the phases of the components of the superconducting complex order parameter from the charge conservation law in explicit form and insert it into the Ginzburg-Landau functional. Using the modified Ginzburg-Landau equation, we acquire the single vortex state including the analytical expression for asymptotics. Also, we obtain the analytical form for the state in the upper critical field. We find that in some cases an unusual sequence of critical fields Hc1,Hc2>Hc can be realized in multicomponent superconductors.

Keywords: Multiband superconductors, Magnetic critical field

Introduction

The lower critical magnetic field Hc1 together with the upper critical field Hc2 and the thermodynamic critical field Hc are the fundamental characteristics of superconductors, which describe the thermodynamics of a superconductor in an external magnetic field [14]. For one-component superconductors only two cases are possible: Hc1>Hc>Hc2 or Hc1<Hc<Hc2. The superconductors, in which the first inequality is satisfied, are called superconductors of the first kind. Correspondingly, if the second inequality is satisfied, superconductors are of the second kind. Recently, it was found that many superconductors such as Fe-based superconductors [58], MgB2 [913], Sr2RuO4 [14, 15], heavy fermion superconductors [16, 17], superconductivity at the interface between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 [18] can not be described by a single-component order parameter. In this connection, a natural question arises, whether these two sequences of the inequalities exhaust all the possibilities in the case of multicomponent superconductors. This article aims to fill this gap.

Here, we show that a different sequence of critical magnetic fields can also be realized in a multicomponent superconductor. We use the conditional variation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional, i.e., the variation under the constraint proposed in [19]. In the presence of topological defects and some other cases, e.g., calculation of Hc2, the conditions δF/δϕi=0 cannot be used for the derivation of a closed system of equations. Therefore the continuity equation divj=0, which follows from the gradient in-variance of the Ginzburg-Landau functional, is used as an independent equation [20]. Resolving the continuity equation one gets a relation between ϕi [20]. As a result only N-1 phase differences {μk=ϕ1-ϕk} can be considered as independent variables with one restriction mentioned above.

In this article, we imply the proposed scheme for a two-component superconductor. It allows to set up a closed system of equations for a state with a single vortex. For this state, we find analytically the asymptomatic behavior of the solutions at short and long distances from the vortex core and numerically at intermediate distances. We also obtain with the perturbation theory the equations for Hc2 for the two-component superconductor and compare the critical magnetic fields.

The Functional

We start with a Ginzburg-Landau (GL) functional of a two-component superconductor in the form, in which the kinetic energy term is positively defined and diagonalized:

F=d3ri=12ħ24mir-2ieħcAΨi2-UΨ^D^UΨ^+U1Ψ^2D^1U1Ψ^2+18πd3rrotA-H02. 1

Here D^,D^1 are diagonal matrices:

D^=lnTc1T00lnTc2T,D^1=12b100b2 2

and U,U1 are the Euler rotation matrices:

U=cosθ-sinθsinθcosθ,U1=cosθ1-sinθ1sinθ1cosθ1 3

with free parameters in the GL functional θ,θ1 and wave functions

Ψ^=Ψ1Ψ2,Ψ^2=Ψ12Ψ22. 4

A multi-component superconductor may possess a phase shift between the components of the order parameter, which is different from {0,π} already in a zero external magnetic field. In a such superconductor, the time-reversal symmetry is broken. Superconductors of this kind will be referred to in the text as superconductors with broken time-reversal symmetry (BTRS) or BTRS superconductors (for classification of classes of superconductors see [17, 21]). Both of the cases, with time-reversal symmetry and with broken time-reversal symmetry can be described in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau functional. For considering below a two-component superconductor it means that two modulus of the order parameters, phase difference, and the vector potential A can be considered as independent variables. Variation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional in these variables leads to a set of four differential equations. The solution of these equations gives the state of the superconductor in an external magnetic field.

Since the system with a single vortex is a rotational invariant, it is convenient to use the cylindrical system of coordinates (r=(ρcosϕ,ρsinϕ,z)). Then, we take the components of the wave function Ψi=Ψi(ρ,ϕ) in the form:

Ψi=|Ψi|eiχi,χi=ϕ+ϕ~i, 5

where ϕ is the polar angle and ϕ~i=ϕ~i(ρ) are functions depending on ρ. From Eq. (5) one gets

-Ψi=eρ|Ψi|ρ+i|Ψi|ϕ~iρ-2eħcAρeiχi+eϕi|Ψi|1ρ-2eħcAϕeiχi, 6

where

A=eρAρ+eϕAϕ,2eħcAρ=Φρ,eρ=(cosϕ,sinϕ),eϕ=(-sinϕ,cosϕ). 7

The current density in the single vortex state is

j=eħi=12|Ψi|2mieρ(ϕ~i-Φ)ρ+eϕ1ρ-2eħcAϕ. 8

From the symmetry considerations, the radial part of the current vanishes. Hence, from Eq. (8), we get

1m1|Ψ1|2(ϕ~1-Φ)ρ+1m2|Ψ2|2(ϕ~2-Φ)ρ=0. 9

To resolve Eq. (9), we introduce a new function μ(ρ):

μ(ρ)=ϕ~1-ϕ~2. 10

with μ(ρ) being a solution of

μρ=1+m2m1|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2ρ(ϕ~1-Φ). 11

Here, we would like to note that the equations obtained by variations of the functional over ϕ~i cannot be used as independent equations to determine ϕ~i anymore due to the above constraint. Resoling Eq. (11), we get

(ϕ~1-Φ)ρ=μρΓ,(ϕ~2-Φ)ρ=μρ(Γ-1). 12

These equations are the key point of the solution to the problem under consideration. Now, we can rewrite the functional Eq. (1) in the form:

F~=d3rħ24m1|Ψ1|ρ2+|Ψ1|2(ϕ~1-Φ)ρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2+ħ24m2|Ψ2|ρ2+|Ψ2|2(ϕ~2-Φ)ρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2+U1|Ψ1|2e2iϕ~1|Ψ2|2e2iϕ~2D^1U1|Ψ1|2e2iϕ~1|Ψ2|2e2iϕ~2-U|Ψ1|eiϕ~1|Ψ2|eiϕ~2D^U|Ψ1|eiϕ~1|Ψ2|eiϕ~2+18πd3r(rot(eϕAϕ)-H0)2 13

If Eqs. (9, 10 and 11) are satisfied, minimization of functional F~ produces for functions |Ψ1|,|Ψ2|,Aϕ,μ four equations. Minimizing the functional Eq. (13), we find the equations for {|Ψ1|,|Ψ2|}:

ħ22m1-1ρρρρ|Ψ1|+Γ2μρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2|Ψ1|+2|Ψ1|3(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ1)-sin(2θ1)|Ψ1||Ψ2|2(b1-b2)cos(2μ)-2|Ψ1|cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ2|lnTc1Tc2cosμ=0 14

and

ħ22m2-1ρρρρ|Ψ2|+(Γ-1)2μρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2|Ψ2|+2|Ψ2|3(b1sin2θ1+b2cos2θ1)-sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|(b1-b2)cos(2μ)-2|Ψ2|sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ1|lnTc1Tc2cosμ=0, 15

where

Γ=1+m2m1|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2-1. 16

Further, variation of F~ with respect to μ gives

ħ22m1-1ρρρ|Ψ1|2Γ2μρ+ħ22m2-1ρρρ|Ψ2|2(Γ-1)2μρ+sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2(b1-b2)sin(2μ)-sin(2θ)|Ψ1||Ψ2|lnTc1Tc2sinμ=0. 17

The gauge is determined by the Maxwell equation for the vector potential Aϕ:

-1ρρρAϕρ+8πe2c21m1|Ψ1|2+1m2|Ψ2|2Aϕ+1ρ2Aϕ=4πeħc1m1|Ψ1|2+1m2|Ψ2|21ρ. 18

and the boundary conditions. At ρ vector potential Aϕ tends to

Aϕħc2e1ρ. 19

As a result, we obtain the following quantization rule for one flux:

d2rH(ρ)=πħce=Φ0, 20

where Φ0 is the flux quantum. The effective penetration depth is

λ-2=8πe2c21m1|Ψ1|2+1m2|Ψ2|2ρ. 21

Using Eq. (20), we can obtain the next expression for the first magnetic critical field Hc1.

Hc14πΦ0=d2rH2(ρ)8π+d2rf1(1)-f1(0). 22

Here f1(0,1) are the density of the condensate energy in the ground state and in the state with a single vortex:

f1(1)=ħ24m1|Ψ1|ρ2+|Ψ1|2Γ2μρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2+ħ24m2|Ψ2|ρ2+|Ψ2|2(1-Γ)2μρ2+1ρ-2eħcAϕ2+12[|Ψ1|4(b1-sin2θ1(b1-b2))+|Ψ2|4(b1-cos2θ1(b1-b2))-sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2(b1-b2)cos(2μ)]-|Ψ1|2cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T-|Ψ2|2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ1||Ψ2|lnTc1Tc2cosμ 23

and

f1(0)=12[|Ψ1(0)|4(b1-sin2θ1(b1-b2))+|Ψ2(0)|4(b1-cos2θ1(b1-b2))-sin(2θ1)|Ψ1(0)|2|Ψ2(0)|2(b1-b2)cos(2(ϕ2(0)-ϕ1(0)))]-|Ψ1(0)|2cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+|Ψ2(0)|2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ1(0)||Ψ2(0)|lnTc1Tc2cos(ϕ1(0)-ϕ2(0)), 24

where the functions Ψ1,2(0) are the values of the correspondent functions in the ground state.

In the dimensionless variables, we obtain (see Appendix A):

H~c1=120+dt0t0H~2+4πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf20+dt0t0|Ψ~1|t02+|Ψ~1|2Γ2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2+m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2|Ψ~2|t02+|Ψ~2|2(1-Γ)2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2+4πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf2(b1|Ψ1|inf2)0+dt0t0(|Ψ~1|4-1)cos2θ1+b2b1sin2θ1+|Ψ2|inf4|Ψ1|inf4(|Ψ~2|4-1)sin2θ1+b2b1cos2θ1-4πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf2(b1|Ψ2|inf2)1-b2b1sin(2θ1)0+dt0t0|Ψ~1|2|Ψ~2|2cos(2μ)-cos(2μinf)-8πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf20+dt0t0cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T(|Ψ~1|2-1)+|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T(|Ψ~2|2-1)-sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inflnTc1Tc2(|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|cos(μ)-cos(μinf)) 25

The results of the numerical calculations of the first and second critical magnetic fields Hc1,Hc2, and also the thermodynamic critical field H~c are given in Table 1. Note, that dependence of H~c from θ is weak. An increase of θ leads to the evolution of the superconductivity so that Hc1 and Hc cross with the formation of a nontrivial transition region.

Table 1.

Resulting values of the expansion at t01 for α1, β1, a1 and c0 and the critical magnetic fields Hc1, Hc2 and Hc

α1 β1 a1 c0 H~(0) H~c1 H~c Hc2
θ=0 0.502624 0.381376 0.178348 ±π/2 0.356697 0.381862 0.31753 0.36464
θ=0.3 0.500653 0.390095 0.179133 π/2+0.321145 0.358285 0.383238 0.318328 0.354247
θ=0.6 0.491193 0.406449 0.179380 π/2+0.528922 0.359888 0.385749 0.317728 0.325411
θ=0.9 0.468440 0.416228 0.178354 π/2+0.560478 0.356357 0.386459 0.311181 0.284332

The ground state without vortices can be of two types. The first type is with preserved time-reversal symmetry sin(ϕ~1-ϕ~2)=0. The second type is the state with broken time-reversal symmetry, which has the solution with sin(ϕ~1-ϕ~2)0. The first case is trivial. In the second case a separate point can exist {ρ=ρ0} (see Fig. 2). Below this point in the single vortex solution, |Ψ1,2| depend on ρ, but ϕ~1-ϕ~2={0,π}. As a result Eqs. (13, 14, 16 and 18) shrink to three equations for {|Ψ1|,|Ψ2|,Aϕ} as in the case with preserved time-reversal symmetry.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Two possible ρ dependencies of ϕ~1-ϕ~2. More details see in the text

Solving the set of equations, one gets the asymptotics:

Aϕ=H(0)2ρatρλ,andAϕ=ħc2e1ρatρλ, 26

where H(0) is the value of the magnetic field at the center of the vortex core. The functions {|Ψ1,2|} are proportional to ρ at the distances smaller than the correlation length and approaches with an exponential decay to a constant at large ρ. Qualitative ρ-dependence of Aϕ,ϕ~1-ϕ~2 and |Ψ1,2| are presented in Fig. 1a and b.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Schematic ρ-dependence of A~ϕ(ρ) and Φ~{1,2}(ρ)

Using Eq. (17) one can estimate the value of parameter ρ0:

m2m1ρρ|Ψ1|2Γ2+ρρ|Ψ2|2(1-Γ)2ρ=(ρ0)+=0 27

The value of the slope μρρ=(ρ)+ is a free parameter. Its value is fixed by the boundary conditions at infinity. As a result, we get a weak singularity in the functions {|Ψ1|,|Ψ2|} since the functions themselves and their first derivatives continue at this point.

At large subspace of the intrinsic parameters, the value of ρ0 is located in the nonphysical region (ρ<0). The intrinsic parameters, used by us for numerical calculations belong to such subspace. The simplest situation for calculations arises for θ=0. In such case the solution of Eq. (17) is

μ(ρ)=±π2. 28

For parameters:

m1=2m2,b2=2b1,b1=1.5·10-5G-2,Tc1/T=1.2,Tc2/T=1.1 29

and

ħ24m1=2.7773·10-11cm2,θ1=0.5,θ={0,0.1,0.3}

the dependencies |Ψ~1,2|,B~(ρ) and (ϕ~1-ϕ~2)ρ for θ=0 and θ=0.3 are given in Fig. 2a. For the numerical calculations, we have used dimensionless equations. The details of the numerical calculations are presented in Appendices A-G.

From Eqs. (13-15), we obtain the next values of {|Ψ1|,|Ψ2|,ϕ~1-ϕ~2} at ρ in the state with broken time-reversal symmetry:

cos(ϕ~1-ϕ~2)|=sin(2θ)ln(Tc1/Tc2)2|Ψ1||Ψ2|sin(2θ1)(b1-b2), 30

and

|Ψ1|2(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ1)+12sin(2θ1)|Ψ2|2(b1-b2)=cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T 31
|Ψ2|2(b2cos2θ1+b1sin2θ1)+12sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|2(b1-b2)=cos2θlnTc2T+sin2θlnTc1T 32

The considered state corresponds to the minima of the free energy functional provided the following inequality is satisfied:

sin2(2θ)ln2(Tc1/Tc2)4sin2(2θ1)(b1-b2)2<|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2.

Obviously, for this case, Eqs. (30)-(32) give a single solution and, therefore, they describe the global minimum.

In this case, the vector potential (Aϕ-(ħc)/(2eρ)) decays exponentially at infinity as exp(-ρ/λ)/ρ, where the parameter λ is given by the Eq. (21). The three quantity {δμ,δ|Ψ1|,δ|Ψ2|} of the difference of the correspondent values from that at ρ decay exponentially at large distances as well:

δμδ|Ψ1|δ|Ψ2|=C1exp(-κ1(1)ρ)1ρf1+C2exp(-κ1(2)ρ)1ρf2+C3exp(-κ1(3)ρ)1ρf3, 33

where the Ci with i=1,2,3 are some coefficients, while κ1(i) and fi are eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the next system:

D~~δμδ|Ψ1|δ|Ψ2|=0. 34

Here D~~ is a Hermitian operator with the following elements:

D~~11=-κ12ħ2|Ψ12|Γ22m1+ħ2|Ψ22|(1-Γ)22m2-sin(2θ)|Ψ1||Ψ2|lnTc1Tc2cosμ+2sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|2(b1-b2)cos(2μ)D~~22=-κ12ħ22m1+6|Ψ1|2(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ1)-sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)|Ψ2|2cos(2μ)-2cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T,D~~33=-κ12ħ22m2+6|Ψ2|2(b2cos2θ1+b1sin2θ1)-sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)|Ψ1|2cos(2μ)-2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T,D~~12=D~~21=-sin(2θ)|Ψ2|sinμlnTc1Tc2+2sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)|Ψ1||Ψ2|2sin(2μ)D~~13=D~~31=-sin(2θ)|Ψ1|sinμlnTc1Tc2+2sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)|Ψ1|2|Ψ2|sin(2μ)D~~23=D~~32=-2sin(2θ1)|Ψ1||Ψ2|(b1-b2)cos(2μ)+sin(2θ)lnTc1Tc2cosμ 35

By the correct boundary conditions, the solution at large distances tends to the that given by Eq. (33). The correspondent free parameters for Eqs. (14, 15 and 18) are the slopes at ρ=0 of |Ψ~1|, |Ψ~2| and A~ϕ. For μ~ at ρ=0 the initial condition is μ(0) if ρ0 does not exists, and Eq. (27) otherwise. At this point, we note that at large distance |Ψ1|, |Ψ2| and μ decay with the same exponent due to the coupling between the components.

Critical Field Hc2

At the critical point Hc2 the order parameters can be found with the following Ansatz:

|Ψ1||Ψ2|=ΨC1C2 36

where Ψ is the solution of the equation [1]:

--2Ψ=ηΨ,A=(0,Hx,0),H=(0,0,H) 37

and C1 and C2 are constants. The solution of Eq. (37) is

Ψ=exp-eHħc(x-x0)2+2ieHħcx0y 38

with η=2eH/ħc and x0 being a free parameter.

For η, we obtain the following quadratic equation

detħ24m1η-cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T12lnTc1Tc2sin(2θ)12lnTc1Tc2sin(2θ)ħ24m2η-sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T=0. 39

Solving these equations, we get Hc2:

ħecHc2=m1cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+m2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T+m1cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T-m2sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T2+m1m2ln2Tc1Tc2sin2(2θ)1/2 40

The numerical results are

Hc2=ħc2eγ2H~c2 41

and

θ=0:H~c2=2ln1.2=0.36464 42
θ=0.3:H~c2=0.3542472. 43

In both cases, we obtain that the critical fields Hc1 and Hc2 are larger than the thermodynamic Hc. Hence, the transition to the vortex state takes place at the external field equal Hc2. However, the transition to the homogeneous case happens at H=Hc as a transition of the first order accompanied by a jump in the magnetic moment value. In the region Hc2>H>Hc a cascade of transitions with change of the structure of the vortex state is possible [22].

Conclusions

We considered a single vortex state and the first critical magnetic field Hc1 in a multicomponent superconductor with N components in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau functional. It has been shown that the problem can be reduced to solving a system of 2N-1 ordinary differential equations if in the ground state, the phase shift between the component of the complex order parameter is 0 or π at zero external magnetic field. Otherwise, it consists of 2N equations. At ρ the phase difference between the components of the order parameter μk=ϕ1-ϕk does not tend to 0,π. And the μ can reach the values 0,π only at finite ρ=ρ0 and for ρ<ρ0 the solution μ=0,π is realized (see Fig. 2).

In a single-component superconductor in a magnetic field, the state is determined by the Ginzburg-Landau parameter κ2=Hc2/Hcm. (The introduced by Ginzburg and Landau in the original work is κGL=κ/2). In the approximation of the Ginzburg-Landau functional, κ is temperature independent. For κ=1 all three critical fields Hc1, Hc2 and Hcm coincide. Multi-component superconductors may show much more broad spectrum of states in an external magnetic field. Magnetic fields Hcm and Hc2 are quite easy to calculate. However, in order to identify the state in an external magnetic field, we need to find also Hc1. As a result, in addition to the unusual sequence of the critical fields, the possibility of overscreening can be realized. In this case, it becomes possible for the jump-like transition between different solutions of the Abrikosov lattices. The calculation of the critical field Hc1 is again given by the solution of the set of Eqs. (69-74) which explicitly take into account the relation between the phases ϕ~1 and ϕ~2, which is imposed by the equation divj=0. Instead of one singular point κ=1 existing in single-component superconductors, in a multicomponent superconductor in any case four parameters (θ,θ1,(b1-b2),ln(Tc1/Tc2)) form basis for criterion set of singular “surfaces.” Investigation of physical states with parameters close to this set present special large interest and can be made inside presented method.

Acknowledgements

Yu.O. thanks Prof. Dr. Jeroen van den Brink for hospitality in IFW and DFG for financial support through the Mercator Professor Fellowship (grant number BR4060/5-1). D.E. thanks VW Foundation for the partial financial support and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 647276 - MARS - ERC-2014-CoG) and DFG (grant No 405940956, 449494427).

Appendix A: Dimensionless Form of the Equations

For numerical calculations it is convenient to bring the equations to a dimensionless form. For these purposes, we use the following substitutions:

ρ=γt0withγ2=ħ22m1,|Ψ1|=|Ψ~1||Ψ1|inf,|Ψ2|=|Ψ~2||Ψ2|inf,Aϕ=ħc2eγA~.

Here |Ψ1|inf and |Ψ2|inf are values of |Ψ1| and |Ψ2| at ρ. They can be obtained from Eqs. (30-32):

|Ψ1|inf2=1b1b2(b1sin2θ1+b2cos2θ2)cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T-12sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T, 44
|Ψ2|inf2=1b1b2(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ2)sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T-12sin(2θ1)(b1-b2)cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T 45

and

cos(μinf)=sin(2θ)lnTc1/Tc22|Ψ1|inf|Ψ2|infsin(2θ1)(b1-b2). 46

Then, Eqs. (1415) take the following form:

-1t0|Ψ~1|t0+2|Ψ~1|t02+Γ2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~1|+2|Ψ1|inf2(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ2)|Ψ~1|3-|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|2sin(2θ1)|Ψ2|inf2(b1-b2)cos(2μ)-2|Ψ~1|cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inf|Ψ~2|lnTc1Tc2cosμ=0 47

and

-m1m21t0|Ψ~2|t0+2|Ψ~2|t02+m1m2(Γ-1)2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~2|+2|Ψ2|inf2(b1sin2θ1+b2cos2θ2)|Ψ~2|3-|Ψ~2||Ψ~1|2sin(2θ1)|Ψ1|inf2(b1-b2)cos(2μ)-2|Ψ~2|sin2θlnTc1T+cos2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ1|inf|Ψ2|inf|Ψ~1|lnTc1Tc2cosμ=0. 48

Here Γ is:

Γ=1+m2m1|Ψ~1|2|Ψ1|inf2|Ψ~2|2|Ψ2|inf2-1. 49

The Maxwell equation in the dimensionless variable has the following form:

-1t0A~t0+2A~t02+8πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf2|Ψ~1|2+m1m2(|Ψ2|inf)2(|Ψ1|inf)2|Ψ~2|2A~-1t0+1t02A~=0 50

The equation for μ is

-1t0t0t0|Ψ~1|2Γ2μt0-m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf21t0t0t0|Ψ~2|2(1-Γ)2μt0+sin(2θ1)|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ~1|2|Ψ~2|2(b1-b2)sin(2μ)-sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inf|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|lnTc1Tc2sinμ=0, 51

The magnetic field H is equal to

H=ħc2eγ2H~,H~=A~t0+A~t0.

Appendix B: Approximation in the Range t01.

In the range t01 the functions |Ψ~1|, |Ψ~2| are odd functions of t0, while the function μ is an even function of t0. They can be expanded in this range as:

|Ψ~1|=α1t0-α3t03+α5t05+...|Ψ~2|=β1t0-β3t03+β5t05+... 52
A~=a1t0-a3t03+a5t05+...μ=c0-c2t02+c4t04+... 53

The coefficients {α1,β1,a1,c0} can be found from the boundary conditions at t0 see Eqs. (44-46). Inserting the expansions Eqs. (52 and 53) into Eqs. (47-51) we obtain the next expression for the coefficients {α3,α5,β3,β5,a3,a5,c2,c4,Γ0}, Γ=Γ0+Γ1t02:

Γ0=1+m2m1α12β12|Ψ1|inf2|Ψ2|inf2-1
Γ1=2m2m1α12β12|Ψ1|inf2|Ψ2|inf2α3α1-β3β1Γ02

Correspondingly, we get the following set of equations for the expansion coefficients from Eq. (47):

8α3-2α1a1-2α1cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+β1sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inflnTc1Tc2cosc0=0 54

and

-24α5+4α1c22Γ02+2(α3a1+α1a3)+α1a12+2|Ψ1|inf2(b1cos2θ1+b2sin2θ1)α13+sin(2θ1)α1β12|Ψ2|inf2(b1-b2)(1-2cos2(c0))+2α3cos2θlnTc1T+sin2θlnTc2T+sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inflnTc1Tc2(-β3cos(c0)+β1c2sin(c0))=0, 55

and from Eq. (48):

m1m2(8β3-2β1a1)-2β1cos2θlnTc2T+sin2θlnTc1T+α1sin(2θ)|Ψ1|inf|Ψ2|inflnTc1Tc2cos(c0)=0 56

and

m1m2[-24β5+4β1c22(1-Γ0)2+2(β1a3+β3a1)+β1a12]+2|Ψ2|inf2(b1sin2θ1+b2cos2θ1)β13+sin(2θ1)β1α12|Ψ1|inf2(b1-b2)(1-2cos2c0)+2β3cos2θlnTc2T+sin2θlnTc1T+sin(2θ)|Ψ1|inf|Ψ2|inflnTc1Tc2(α1c2sin(c0)-α3cos(c0))=0. 57

Further, the Maxwell equation gives the following set of equations:

8a3-8πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf2α12+m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2β12=0 58

and

-24a5+8πe2γ2m1c2|Ψ1|inf2a1α12+m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2β12+2α1α3+m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2β1β3=0. 59

And the equation for μ yields:

8α12Γ02c2+8m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2β12(1-Γ0)2c2-sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inflnTc1Tc2α1β1sin(c0)=0 60
-24α1α3Γ02c2-α12Γ0Γ1c2+α12Γ02c4-24m1m2|Ψ2|inf2|Ψ1|inf2(β1β3(1-Γ0)2c2+(1-Γ0)Γ1β12c2+c4β12(1-Γ0)2)+sin(2θ1)|Ψ2|inf2α12β12(b1-b2)sin(2c0)+sin(2θ)|Ψ2|inf|Ψ1|inflnTc1Tc2×((α3β1+α1β3)sin(c0)+c2cos(c0)α1β1)=0 61

Appendix C. Numerical Solution at ρ=.

For parameter values, given by Eq. (28), we obtain the next values for quantities {|Ψ1|inf2,|Ψ2|inf2,cos(μinf)}.

|Ψ1|inf2=1.209457·104;θ=01.205556·104;θ=0.11.175276·104;θ=0.3Gauss2 62
|Ψ2|inf2=6.464209·103;θ=06.487598·103;θ=0.16.669154·103;θ=0.3Gauss2 63
cos(μinf)=0;θ=0-0.0774303;θ=0.1-0.2198284;θ=0.3 64

Further, for the numerical calculations, we will use

8πe2γ2m1c2=3.573832·10-5(Gauss)-2 65

Appendix D. Numerical Solution for θ=0

In the range of parameter t01, we have the following asymptotic behavior of A~ and H~:

A~1t0+Rt0e-t0/λ1+3λ8t0-15λ2128t02 66

and

H~-Rλt01-λ8t0+9λ128t02e-t0/λ~

with

λ~-2=8πe2γ2c2m1|Ψ1|inf2+|Ψ2|inf2m1m2.

For θ=0, we get λ~-2=0.894279. The asymptotics for |Ψ1~| and |Ψ2~| have the form:

|Ψ~1|=1-S11t0exp(-κ1t0)1-18κ1t0-S12t0exp(-κ2t0)1-18κ2t0 67
|Ψ~2|=1-S21t0exp(-κ1t0)1-18κ1t0-S22t0exp(-κ2t0)1-18κ2t0 68

with S21/S11=3.62365, S22/S12=-0.258166. Here quantities {R,S11,S12} are some constants, which can be found by solving the full set of the differential equations. In the range t01, we obtain from Eqs. (58-61).

α3=0.25α1a1+0.04558α1 69
β3=0.25β1a1+0.0119138β1 70
a3=0.05403(α12+1.068944β12) 71
a5=0.01801{a1(α12+1.06894β12)+2(α1α3+1.068944β1β3)} 72
α5=1242(α1α3+α1a3)+α1a12+0.446235α13-0.0815917α1β12+0.364643α3 73
β5=1242(β1a3+β3a1)+β1a12+0.171639β13-0.0763292β1α12+0.09531β3. 74

For small θ the function μ can be presented in the form μ=π/2+δ with δθ1. So, for θ=0.1 Eq. (A.8) in the first order of perturbation theory over θ can be presented in the form:

-1t0t0t0|Ψ~1|2Γ2δt0-1.076281t0t0t0|Ψ~2|2(1-Γ)2δt0+0.163774|Ψ~1|2|Ψ~2|2δ=1.268103·10-2|Ψ~1||Ψ~2| 75

Corrections to quantities {|Ψ~1|,|Ψ~2|} are of the second order by θ. Hence, in the leading approximation, we can use the values of function {|Ψ~1|,|Ψ~2|} at the point θ=0.

Appendix E. Numerical Solution of the Eqs. θ=0

It is follows from Eq. (46) the point θ=0 is singular. It this point μ=±π/2. As the result the equation system from four equations Eqs. (47-50) reduces to the system of three equations. The solution of its has a special interest, since the solution is more simple in such case and can be easy spread on a large region over θ. Solving Eqs. (44-46) on estimates the four parameters α1,β1,a1,c0. Their values are presented in the table.

At θ=0, we have the next equation for {|Ψ~1|,|Ψ~2|,A~}

-1t0|Ψ~1|t0+2|Ψ~1|t02+1t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~1|+0.446235|Ψ1|3-0.0815917|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|2-0.364643|Ψ~1|=0 76
-21t0|Ψ~2|t0+2|Ψ~2|t02+2t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~2|+0.343279|Ψ2|3-0.152658|Ψ~2||Ψ~1|2-0.1906204|Ψ~2|=0 77
-1t0A~t0+2A~t02+0.43224(|Ψ~1|2+1.068944|Ψ~2|2)A~-1t0+1t02A~=0 78

From the numerical solution, we find the coefficients R, S11 and S22 in asymptotics presented by Eqs. (66-68):

R=-4.89675,S11=3.32825,S22=2.33331. 79

Appendix F. Small θ Values, Correction to the Phase Difference

We obtain the next equation for the function δ(t0) in the region t01.

δ=δ0-δ(2)t02+δ(4)t04 80

where

α3=5.15·10-2,β3=2.60634·10-2,Γ0=0.392089,Γ1=1.58942·10-2,
δ(2)=1.585135·10-3α1β1α12Γ02+1.0762888β12(1-Γ0)2=3.129603·10-3 81
δ(4)=-7.180505·10-5+2.982978·10-3δ0

Numerical calculations for θ=0.1 give

δinf=0.077430178,δ0=0.111235. 82

For t01, we have the following asymptotic δδinf+0.2917t0e-0.5620824t0. The phase difference in full range of t0 for θ=0.1 is presented at Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

Normalized magnetic field H/H0, phase ϕ, and wave functions |Ψ1|/|Ψ1|. as function of ρ/ρ0. The parameters are γ2=ħ22m1, μ=ϕ~1-ϕ~2

Appendix G. Case θ=0.3

Consider now the case of θ=0.3. Parameters {α1,β1,a1,c0} are free parameters and for quantities α3,β3,a3,α5,β5,a5,c2,c4, we obtain from Eqs. (52-57) in the region t01 the following values:

α3=0.25α1a1+4.3680665·10-2α1-4.744229·10-3β1cos(c0)
β3=0.25β1a1+1.286363·10-2β1-3.974876·10-3α1cos(c0)
Γ0=(1+0.837834·α12/β12)-1,Γ1=1.675668α12β12Γ02α3α1-β3β1
c2=4.744229·10-3α1β1sin(c0)α1Γ02+1.193554β12(1-Γ0)2
a3=4.992322·10-2(α12+1.193554β12)α5=1244Γ02α1c22+2(α1a3+α3a1)+α1a12+0.412317α13-8.417844·10-2α1β12(1-2cos2(c0))+0.349445α3+3.79538·10-2(-β3cos(c0)+β1c2sin(c0))β5=1244(1-Γ0)2β1c12+2(β1a3+β3a1)+β1a12+0.177081β13-7.052755·10-2α12β1(1-2cos2(c0))+0.10290903β3+3.1799·(-α3cos(c0)+α1c2sin(c0))a5=1.664107·10-2{a1(α12+1.193554β12)+2(α1α3+1.193554β1β3)}c4=1α12Γ02+1.193554β12(1-Γ0)2{(α12Γ0Γ1-α1α3Γ02)c2-1.193554(β1β3(1-Γ0)2+(1-Γ0)Γ1β12)c2-3.507435·10-3α12β12sin(2c0)+1.58141·10-3(α3β1sinc0+α1β3sinc0+c2α1β1cosc0)}

At t0 the variable tends to μinfπ/2+0.2216385 and Γinf0.531596.

For θ=0.3, we obtain the following system of differential equations for quantities {|Ψ~1|,|Ψ~2|,A~,μ}:

-1t0|Ψ~1|t0+2|Ψ~1|t0+Γ2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~1|+B13|Ψ~1|3+B11|Ψ~1|+C13|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|2(1-2cos2μ)+C11|Ψ~2|cosμ=0 83
-1t0|Ψ~2|t0+2|Ψ~1|t0+(1-Γ)2μt02+1t02(1-A~t0)2|Ψ~2|+B23|Ψ~2|3+B21|Ψ~2|+C23|Ψ~2||Ψ~1|2(1-2cos2μ)+C21|Ψ~1|cosμ=0 84
-1t0t0t0A~t0+F1|Ψ~1|2+F2|Ψ~2|2A~-1t0+1t02A~=0 85
-1t0t0t0|Ψ~1|2Γ2μt0-G01t0t0t0|Ψ~2|2(1-Γ)2μt0-C13|Ψ~1|2|Ψ~2|2sin(2μ)-C11·|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|sinμ=0, 86

where

Γ=(1+0.881129|Ψ~1|2/|Ψ~2|2)-1 87

and

B11=-0.349445,B13=0.433624,C13=-8.417844·10-2,C11=3.700964·10-2,
B21=-0.102909,B23=0.177081,C23=-7.4172086·10-2,C21=3.261003·10-2,
F1=0.420024,F2=0.476689,G0=1.134908.

At θ=0.3 at large distances t01, we get the following asymptotic expression for the magnetic field:

H~(t0)=-2.82979t01-0.1320029t0exp-0.9469491t0 88

In both numerical investigated cases, the superconductor turns out unusual state. The value of Hc1 and Hc2 are larger that Hc.

The three correlation length can be estimated from the system of equations Eqs. (84-86):

0.875383-κ2-0.16022113.61043×10-2-0.1411760.361331-κ23.18117×10-26.791168×10-26.79117×10-20.301396-κ2f1f2f3=0 89

The solution of the Eqs. (89) is

κ1=0.50125,f1=(0.196846,0.541458,-1)κ2=0.60715,f2=(0.183665,0.806245,1)κ3=0.95824,f3=(1,-0.248778,8.27139×10-2) 90

The numerical calculations of Eqs. (83-85) yields the following asymptotic expression for {|Ψ~1|,|Ψ~1|,μ}:

|Ψ~1||Ψ~2|μ=11π2+0.2216385-1.87027t01-0.24938t0f1exp(-0.501254t0)-1.80889t01-0.20588t0f2exp(-0.6071449t0)-3.6315t01-0.13045t0f3exp(-0.958238t0) 91

Funding

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

Footnotes

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

  • 1.Abrikosov, A.: Soviet Phys.–JETP. 5, 1174 (1957)
  • 2.de Gennes, P.-G.: Superconductivity of metals and alloys (advanced book program) (Perseus Books, 1999)
  • 3.Ovchinnikov Y. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 2001;92:858. doi: 10.1134/1.1378179. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Ginzburg, V.: Soviet Phys. – JETP 7, 78 (1958), ISSN 0038-5646
  • 5.Kamihara Y, Watanabe T, Hirano M, Hosono H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008;130:3296. doi: 10.1021/ja800073m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Hosono, H., Tanabe, K., Takayama-Muromachi, E., Kageyama, H., Yamanaka, S., Kumakura, H., Nohara, M., Hiramatsu, H., Fujitsu, S.: Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater. 16, 033503 (2015) 1505.02240 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
  • 7.Johnston DC. Adv. Phys. 2010;59:803. doi: 10.1080/00018732.2010.513480. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Yerin Y, Drechsler S-L, Fuchs G. J. Low Temp. Phys. 2013;173:247. doi: 10.1007/s10909-013-0903-9. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Nagamatsu J, Nakagawa N, Muranaka T, Zenitani Y. J. Akimitsu. 2001;410:63. doi: 10.1038/35065039. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Nicol, E., Carbotte, J.: Phys. Rev. B 71 (2005)
  • 11.Gurevich, A.: Phys Rev. B 67 (2003)
  • 12.Gurevich A. Physica C: Superconductivity. 2007;456:160. doi: 10.1016/j.physc.2007.01.008. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Askerzade, I.N.: Physics-Uspekhi 49, 1003 (2006)  10.1070/PU2006v049n10ABEH006055 [DOI]
  • 14.Ishida, K., Mukuda, H., Kitaoka, Y., Asayama, K., Mao, Z.Q., Mori, Y., Maeno, Y.: Nature 396, 658 (1998) ISSN 1476-4687, 10.1038/25315 [DOI]
  • 15.Mackenzie, A.P., Maeno, Y.: Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 657 (2003) https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.75.657
  • 16.Pfleiderer, C.: Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 1551 (2009) https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.81.1551
  • 17.Sigrist, M., Ueda, K.: Rev. Mod. Phys. 63, 239 (1991) https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.63.239
  • 18.Edge J, Balatsky A. J. Supercond. Novel Magn. 2015;28:2373. doi: 10.1007/s10948-015-3052-3. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 19.Ovchinnikov YN. J. Supercond. Nov. Magn. 2018;31:3855. doi: 10.1007/s10948-018-4663-2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20.Ovchinnikov, Y.N., Efremov, D.V.: Phys. Rev. B 99, 224508 (2019) https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.224508
  • 21.Volovik G, Gorkov L. Soviet. Phys. - JETP. 1985;88:1412. [Google Scholar]
  • 22.Ovchinnikov YN. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 2013;117:480. doi: 10.1134/S1063776113110046. [DOI] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES