arXiv · 2012.01387
Space-time crystalline order of a high-critical-temperature superconductor with intrinsic Josephson junctions
Abstract
We theoretically demonstrate that the high-critical-temperature superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (BSCCO) is a natural candidate for the recently envisioned classical space-time crystal. BSCCO intrinsically forms a stack of Josephson junctions. Under a periodic parametric modulation of the Josephson critical current density, the Josephson currents develop coupled space-time crystalline order, breaking the continuous translational symmetry in both space and time. The modulation frequency and amplitude span a (nonequilibrium) phase diagram for a so-defined spatiotemporal order parameter, which displays rigid pattern formation within a particular region of the phase diagram. Based on our calculations using representative material properties, we propose a laser-modulation experiment to realize the predicted space-time crystalline behavior. Our findings bring new insight into the nature of space-time crystals and, more generally, into nonequilibrium driven condensed matter systems.
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Reinhold Kleiner, Xianjing Zhou, Eric Dorsch, Xufeng Zhang, Dieter Koelle, Dafei Jin. 2020-12-02. Space-time crystalline order of a high-critical-temperature superconductor with intrinsic Josephson junctions. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26132-y
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