Superconductor-insulator transition of Josephson-junction arrays on a honeycomb lattice in a magnetic field

Abstract

We study the superconductor to insulator transition at zero temperature in a Josephson-junction array model on a honeycomb lattice with $f$ flux quantum per plaquette. The path integral representation of the model corresponds to a (2+1)-dimensional classical model, which is used to investigate the critical behavior by extensive Monte Carlo simulations on large system sizes. In contrast to the model on a square lattice, the transition is found to be first order for $f=1/3$ and continuous for $f=1/2$ but in a different universality class. The correlation-length critical exponent is estimated from finite-size scaling of vortex correlations. The estimated universal conductivity at the transition is approximately four times its value for $f=0$. The results are compared with experimental observations on ultrathin superconducting films with a triangular lattice of nanoholes in a transverse magnetic field.