Unconventional vortex states in nanoscale superconductors due to shape-induced resonances in the inhomogeneous Cooper-pair condensate

Abstract

Vortex matter in mesoscopic superconductors is known to be strongly affected by the geometry of the sample. Here we show that in nanoscale superconductors with coherence length comparable to the Fermi wavelength the shape resonances of the order parameter results in an additional contribution to the quantum topological confinement - leading to unconventional vortex configurations. Our Bogoliubov-de Gennes calculations in a square geometry reveal a plethora of asymmetric, giant multi-vortex, and vortex-antivortex structures, stable over a wide range of parameters and which are very different from those predicted by the Ginzburg-Landau theory. These unconventional states are relevant for high-Tc nanograins, confined Bose-Einstein condensates, and graphene flakes with proximity-induced superconductivity.

to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

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• Negative Magnetoresistance in Amorphous Indium Oxide Wires
• Spontaneous symmetry-breaking at surfaces of $d$-wave superconductors: influence of geometry and surface ruggedness
• Robust and tunable coreless vortices and fractional vortices in chiral $d$-wave superconductors
• SuperConga: an open-source framework for mesoscopic superconductivity
• Multifaceted impact of a surface step on superconductivity in atomically thin films
• Visualizing the elongated vortices in $\gamma$-Ga nanostrips
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• Position-dependent effect of non-magnetic impurities on superconducting properties of nanowires
• Electronic structure of mesoscopic superconducting disk: Quasiparticle tunneling between the giant vortex core and disk edge
• Novel $\pi$-type vortex in a nanoscale extreme type-II superconductor: Induced by quantum-size effect
• Designing edge currents using mesoscopic patterning in chiral d-wave superconductors