Half Quantum Vortices in Nematic Superconductor

Abstract

Motivated by the superconductivity of $M_x$Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$, we study topological excitations in a nematic superconductor using Ginzburg-Landau theory. An isolated excitation at low field is shown to be either a distorted phase vortex or a tightly-bounded pair of half quantum vortices. Close to upper critical field $H_{c2}$, the vortex lattice is shown to be always hexagonal in the extreme type-II limit. Due to the different symmetries of the vortex lattice states, at least two phase transitions must take place when the external field is lowered from $H_{c2}$.

arXiv commentMain text: 12 pages, 7 figures. The main text is expanded into a full-length paper

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• Magnetic response of nematic superconductors: skyrmion stripes and their signatures in muon spin relaxation experiments
• Symmetries, Length Scales, Magnetic Response and Skyrmion Chains in Nematic Superconductors
• The absence of Ginzburg-Landau mechanism for vestigial order in the normal phase above a two-component superconductor
• Lifshitz transition in dirty nematic superconductor
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• Interaction between spin and Abrikosov vortices in doped topological insulators