Tuning the patterns of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state by magnetic impurities in d -wave superconductors

Abstract

A local structure transition in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state from checkerboard to stripe pattern induced by magnetic impurities is computationally observed in near-optimally doped d -wave superconductors. In the absence of impurities, the checkerboard pattern of the FFLO state is energetically favorable under a parallel field, while a local structure transition to the stripe pattern occurs when strong magnetic impurities are inserted. This finding provides an avenue to tune the patterns of the FFLO state, and is ready to be checked by neutron scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. The implication for high-Tc cuprate superconductors is discussed.

Phase Transition in the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov States for the d-Wave Superconductor in the Two-Dimensional Orthorhombic Lattice

“…26 And the 2D pattern may change to the 1D pattern in presence of the impurities. 24,25 The above results of the gap structure for the tetragonal lattice system are significantly different from the previous theoretical results in the isotropic systems, 27,28 as discussed by Ref. [26], indicating that the intrinsic symmetry of the crystal lattice should play an important role in the gap structure of the FFLO states.…”

“…Many groups have reported their results and numerically the gap structure depends on the pairing symmetry. [22][23][24][25][26] For s-wave pairing symmetry, the one-dimensional (1D) stripe-like pattern was reported. 22,23 For d-wave paring symmetry, recently it was proposed that a transition from the 1D stripe-like pattern to the two-dimensional (2D) checkerboard pat-tern will occur as the exchange field increases.…”

The Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov State in Quantum Rings

“…In the widely held belief, the FFLO phase is destroyed by disorder [3,4]. However, present works indicate the possibility of its existence in the case of inhomogeneous systems [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. It was recently shown that there is a possibility of coexistence between an incommensurate spin density wave and the FFLO phase [13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Phase diagram and local tunneling spectroscopy of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states of a two-dimensional square-latticed-wave superconductor

“…Another effective method is the Bogoliubovde-Gennes (BdG) technique and it has been proven to be a powerful tool to study the inhomogeneous state and the local density of states (LDOS) self-consistently in the lowdimensional system. In fact, in the past, the FFLO state has been studied intensively based on the above two techniques [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. For a 2D system, it is somewhat established [14,15]that the order parameter has a 2D checkerboard pattern for a superconductor with d-wave pairing symmetry, and a 1D stripe-like pattern for s-wave pairing symmetry [15,16].…”

“…For a 2D system, it is somewhat established [14,15]that the order parameter has a 2D checkerboard pattern for a superconductor with d-wave pairing symmetry, and a 1D stripe-like pattern for s-wave pairing symmetry [15,16]. On the other hand, it has been shown that in the presence of dilute impurities, the pattern of the FFLO state becomes 1D stripe-like in a 2D d-wave superconductor [17,18]. This implies that the 2D and 1D FFLO states may be present in the system in different parameter region.…”