Disorder-induced superconductor to insulator transition and finite phase stiffness in two-dimensional phase-glass models

Abstract

We study numerically the superconductor to insulator transition in two-dimensional phase-glass (or chiral-glass) models with varying degree of disorder. These models describe the effects of gauge disorder in superconductors due to random negative Josephson-junction couplings, or $\pi$ junctions. Two different models are considered, with binary and Gaussian distribution of quenched disorder, having nonzero mean. Monte Carlo simulations in the path-integral representation are used to determine the phase diagram and critical exponents. In addition to the usual superconducting and insulating phases, a chiral-glass phase occurs for sufficiently large disorder, with random local circulating currents of different chiralities. A transition from superconductor to insulator can take place via the intermediate chiral-glass phase. We find, however, that the chiral-glass state has a finite phase stiffness, being still a superconductor, instead of the Bose metal, which has been suggested by mean-field theory.

10 pages, 19 figures, Phys. Rev. B (2020). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1711.04669

References in corpus (4)

• Quantum Monte Carlo study of a magnetic-field-driven 2D superconductor-insulator transition
• Magnetic flux disorder and superconductor-insulator transition in nanohole thin films
• Phase glass and zero-temperature phase transition in a randomly frustrated two-dimensional quantum rotor model
• Random gauge models of the superconductor-insulator transition in two-dimensional disordered superconductors

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Zero temperature superconductor - edge metal - insulator transition in $2D$ bosonic systems