Quantum meets classical phase transition: Low-temperature anomaly in disordered superconductors near $B_{c2}$

Abstract

Strongly disordered superconductors in a magnetic field display many characteristic properties of type-II superconductivity--- except at low temperatures where an anomalous linear $T$-dependence of the resistive critical field $B_{c2}$ is routinely observed. This behavior violates the conventional theory of superconductivity, and its origin remains a long-standing puzzle. Here we report on systematic measurements of the critical magnetic field and current on amorphous indium oxide films of various levels of disorder. Surprisingly, our measurements show that the $B_{c2}$ anomaly near zero-temperature is accompanied by a clear mean-field like scaling behavior of the critical current. We demonstrate theoretically that these are consequences of the vortex-glass ground state and its thermal fluctuations. This theory further predicts the linear-$T$ anomaly to occur in films as well as bulk superconductors with a slope that depends on the normal-state sheet resistance---in agreement with experimental data. Thus, our combined experimental and theoretical study reveals universal low-temperature behavior of $B_{c2}$ in a large class of disordered superconductors.