Anomalous vortex shape in a frustrated superconductor hosting chiral multicomponent order parameters

Yuita Fujisawa; Anjana Krishnadas; Tomonori Nakamura; Chia-Hsiu Hsu; Yen-Yu Lai; Barnaby R. M. Smith; Markel Pardo-Almanza; Yukiko Obata; Dyon van Dinter; Guoqing Chang; Chun-Liang Lin; Robert. Joynt; Yuki Nagai; Tadashi Machida; Yoshinori Okada

arXiv · 2306.06711

Anomalous vortex shape in a frustrated superconductor hosting chiral multicomponent order parameters

Yuita Fujisawa·Anjana Krishnadas·Tomonori Nakamura·Chia-Hsiu Hsu·Yen-Yu Lai·Barnaby R. M. Smith·Markel Pardo-Almanza·Yukiko Obata·Dyon van Dinter·Guoqing Chang·Chun-Liang Lin·Robert. Joynt·Yuki Nagai·Tadashi Machida·Yoshinori Okada

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Abstract

Multicomponent chiral superconductors can host spatially separated superconducting components within a single Abrikosov vortex, leading to unconventional, anisotropic vortex shapes forbidden in conventional single-component superconductors. Here, using spectroscopic scanning tunneling microscopy at 0.3 K, we investigate the mixed state of the spinel superconductor LiTi2O4 (Tc = 13 K). In the low-field regime, where vortex-vortex interactions are minimized and the intrinsic single-vortex shape is preserved, reasonably isolated triangular Abrikosov vortices are directly visualized with high statistical significance. Remarkably, the vortex orientation is locked to crystallographic domains rather than the magnetic-field direction, revealing a hidden chirality selectivity embedded in the zero-field electronic state.

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Yuita Fujisawa, Anjana Krishnadas, Tomonori Nakamura, Chia-Hsiu Hsu, Yen-Yu Lai, Barnaby R. M. Smith, Markel Pardo-Almanza, Yukiko Obata, Dyon van Dinter, Guoqing Chang, Chun-Liang Lin, Robert. Joynt, Yuki Nagai, Tadashi Machida, Yoshinori Okada. 2023-06-11. Anomalous vortex shape in a frustrated superconductor hosting chiral multicomponent order parameters. https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06711

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