Fluctuation and strain effects in a chiral $p$-wave superconductor

Abstract

For a tetragonal material, order parameters of $p_x$ and $p_y$ symmetry are related by rotation and hence have the same $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ at a mean-field level. This degeneracy can be lifted by a symmetry-breaking field, like (uniaxial) in-plane strain, such that at $T_{\mathrm{c}}$, the order parameter is only of $p_x$ or $p_y$ symmetry. Only at a lower temperature also the respective other order parameter condenses to form a chiral $p$-wave state. At the mean-field level, the derivative of $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ with strain is discontinuous at zero strain. We analyze consequences of (thermal) fluctuations on the strain-temperature phase diagram within a Ginzburg-Landau approach. We find that the order-parameter fluctuations can drive the transition to be weakly first order, rounding off this discontinuity. We discuss the possibility of a second-order transition into a non-superconducting time-reversal-symmetry-breaking phase and consequences for the spin-triplet superconductor Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$.

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Cited by in corpus (19)

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• Intertwined vestigial order in quantum materials: nematicity and beyond
• Split superconducting and time-reversal symmetry-breaking transitions, and magnetic order in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ under uniaxial stress
• Vestigial nematic order and superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Cu${}_x$Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$
• Micron-scale measurements of low anisotropic strain response of local $T_c$ in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Possible three-dimensional nematic odd-parity superconductivity in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Manipulating superconductivity in ruthenates through Fermi surface engineering
• Strain-induced time reversal breaking and half quantum vortices near a putative superconducting tetra-critical point in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Cascade of vestigial orders in two-component superconductors: nematic, ferromagnetic, s-wave charge-4e, and d-wave charge-4e states
• Effects of intercomponent couplings on the appearance of time-reversal symmetry breaking fermion quadrupling state in two-component London models
• Weak-coupling superconductivity in an anisotropic three-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model
• Symmetry-mixed bound-state order: extended degeneracy of $(d+ig)$-superconductivity in ${\mathrm{Sr}}_2\mathrm{Ru}{\mathrm{O}}_4$
• High-order Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking Normal State
• The absence of Ginzburg-Landau mechanism for vestigial order in the normal phase above a two-component superconductor
• Possible two-component spin-singlet pairings in Sr2RuO4
• Effect of strain inhomogeneity on a chiral p-wave superconductor
• Local condensation of charge-$4e$ superconductivity at a nematic domain wall
• The role of electromagnetic gauge-field fluctuations in the selection between chiral and nematic superconductivity
• First order superconducting phase transition in chiral $p+ip$ system