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 $T_{\rm c}$ at a mean-field level. This degeneracy can be lifted by a symmetry-breaking field, like (uniaxial) in-plane strain, such that at $T_{\rm c}$, 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 $T_{\rm c}$ 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$_4$.