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Manfred Sigrist

Publications and source records attributed to Manfred Sigrist.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Switchable half-quantum flux states in a ring of the kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$

Magnetic flux quantization in units of $\Phi_0 = h/2e$ is a defining feature of superconductivity, rooted in the charge-2e nature of Cooper pairs. In a ring geometry, the flux quantization leads to oscillations in the critical temperature with magnetic flux, known as the Little-Parks effect. While the maximal critical temperature is conventionally at zero flux, departures from this rule, for instance shifts by a half-quantum flux $\Phi_0/2$, clearly signal unconventional superconducting states and require sign-changing order parameters. Historically, such $\pi$-phase shifts in Little-Parks oscillations have been found in tricrystals or engineered ring structures that intentionally incorporate a $\pi$-phase shift. Here we report the discovery of switchable half-quantum flux states in rings made from single crystals of the kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. We observe Little-Parks oscillations with a $\pi$-phase shift at zero bias current, which can be reversibly tuned to conventional Little-Parks oscillations upon applying a bias current. Between the $\pi$-phase and 0-phase regimes, $h/4e$ periodic oscillations appear. Our observations suggest unconventional pairing, potentially in the form of a multicomponent order parameter in the kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, and reveal an electrically tunable landscape of competing superconducting condensates and fractional flux states.

cond-mat.supr-con

Josephson Diode Effect for a Kitaev Ladder System

We study the Josephson diode effect realized purely by geometry in a Kitaev-ladder Josephson junction composed of two parallel spinless $p$-wave chains coupled by an interleg hopping $t_\perp$. The junction is governed by two phases: the superconducting phase difference across the weak link, $\theta$, and the leg-to-leg phase difference, $\phi$. For $\phi\notin \{0, \pi\}$ (mod $2\pi$), time-reversal symmetry is broken, and the absence of leg-exchange symmetry leads to a breakdown of the antisymmetry of the current-phase relation, yielding nonreciprocal Josephson transport without magnetic fields or spin-orbit coupling. By resolving transport into bonding and antibonding channels defined by $t_\perp$, it is shown that the leg phase acts as an effective phase shift for interband ($p_\nu/p_{-\nu}$) tunneling, whereas the same-band ($p_\nu/p_\nu$) contribution remains unshifted. These channels arise at different perturbative orders and, together with the $4\pi$-periodic Majorana channel that emerges near the topological transition, interfere to produce a pronounced diode response. The class-D Pfaffian invariant identifies the parameter regime where the ladder hosts Majorana zero modes. Bogoliubov-de Gennes calculations reveal a dome-like dependence of the diode efficiency $\eta$ on $t_\perp$: $\eta\to 0$ for $t_\perp\to 0$ and for large $t_\perp$, with a maximum at intermediate coupling that is tunable by $\phi$. The present results establish a field-free, geometry-based route to superconducting rectification in one-dimensional topological systems and specify symmetry and topology conditions for optimizing the effect in ladder and network devices.

cond-mat.supr-con

General Strategy for Large Nernst Coefficient

We propose a general strategy for enhancing the anomalous Nernst coefficient based on the Sommerfeld-Bethe relation. This approach provides a systematic framework for understanding the small anomalous Nernst coefficients typically observed in ferromagnets and identifies conditions under which substantial enhancements can be realized. We further introduce simplified models that exhibit large Nernst coefficients as offering illustrative examples.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Direct evidence for the absence of coupling between shear strain and superconductivity in Sr2RuO4

The superconducting symmetry of Sr2RuO4 has been intensely debated for many years. A crucial controversy recently emerged between shear-mode ultrasound experiments, which suggest a two-component order parameter, and some uniaxial pressure experiments that suggest a one-component order parameter. To resolve this controversy, we use a new approach to directly apply three different kinds of shear strain to single crystals of Sr2RuO4 and investigate the coupling to superconductivity. After characterising the strain by optical imaging, we observe variations of the transition temperature Tc smaller than 10mK/% as measured by low-frequency magnetic susceptibility, indicating that shear strain has little to no coupling to superconductivity. Our results are consistent with a one-component order parameter model, but such a model cannot consistently explain other experimental evidence such as time-reversal symmetry breaking, superconducting domains, and horizontal line nodes, thus calling for alternative interpretations.

cond-mat.supr-con

Magnetic edge fields in UTe$_2$ near zero background fields

Chiral superconductors are theorized to exhibit spontaneous edge currents. Here, we found magnetic fields at the edges of UTe$_2$, a candidate odd-parity chiral superconductor, that seem to agree with predictions for a chiral order parameter. However, we did not detect the chiral domains that would be expected, and recent polar Kerr and muon spin relaxation data in nominally clean samples argue against chiral superconductivity. Our results show that hidden sources of magnetism must be carefully ruled out when using spontaneous edge currents to identify chiral superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con

Correlation-induced Fermi surface evolution and topological crystalline superconductivity in CeRh2As2

Locally noncentrosymmetric structures in crystals are attracting much attention owing to emergent phenomena associated with the sublattice degree of freedom. The newly discovered heavy fermion superconductor CeRh$_2$As$_2$ is considered to be an excellent realization of this class. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments recently observed low-energy spectra of electron and hole bands and characteristic Van Hove singularities, stimulating us to explore the electronic correlation effect on the band structure. In this Letter, we theoretically study the electronic state and topological superconductivity from first principles. Owing to the Coulomb repulsion $U$ of Ce 4$f$ electrons, the low-energy band structure is modified in accordance with the experimental result. We show that Fermi surfaces change significantly from a complicated three-dimensional structure to a simple two-dimensional one. Fermi surface formulas for one-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariants in class D indicate topological crystalline superconductivity protected by the glide symmetry in a broad region for $U$. The classification of superconducting gap structure reveals topologically protected excitation gap and node. Our findings of the correlation-induced evolution of electronic structure provide a basis to clarify the unusual phase diagram of CeRh$_2$As$_2$ including superconductivity, magnetic order, and quadrupole density wave, and accelerate the search for topological superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.supr-con

Tunable quantum interferometer for correlated moiré electrons

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) can host an intriguing variety of gate-tunable correlated states, including superconducting and correlated insulator states. Junction-based superconducting devices, such as Josephson junctions and SQUIDs, have been introduced recently and enable the exploration of the charge, spin, and orbital nature of superconductivity and the coherence of moiré electrons in MATBG. However, complementary fundamental coherence effects - in particular, the Little-Parks effect in a superconducting and the Aharonov-Bohm effect in a normal conducting ring - remained to be observed. Here, we report the observation of both these phenomena in a single gate-defined ring device where we can embed a superconducting or normal conducting ring in a correlated or band insulator. We directly observe the Little-Parks effect in the superconducting phase diagram as a function of density and magnetic field, confirming the effective charge of $2e$. By measuring the Aharonov-Bohm effect, we find that in our device, the coherence length of normal conducting moiré electrons exceeds a few microns at 50 mK. Surprisingly, we also identify a regime characterized by $h/e$-periodic oscillations but with superconductor-like nonlinear transport. Taken together, these experiments establish a novel device platform in MATBG, and more generally in tunable 2D materials, to unravel the nature of superconductivity and other correlated quantum states in these materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Effects of nucleation at a first-order transition between two superconducting phases: Application to CeRh$_2$As$_2$

Recent experiments observed a phase transition within the superconducting regime of the heavy-fermion system CeRh$_2$As$_2$ when subjected to a $c$-axis magnetic field. This phase transition has been interpreted as a parity switching from even to odd parity as the field is increased, and is believed to be of first order. If correct, this scenario provides a unique opportunity to study the phenomenon of local nucleation around inhomogeneities in a superconducting context. Here, we study such nucleation in the form of sharp domain walls emerging on a background of spatially varying material properties and hence, critical magnetic field. To this end, we construct a spatially inhomogeneous Ginzburg-Landau functional and apply numerical minimization to demonstrate the existence of localized domain wall solutions and study their physical properties. Furthermore, we propose ultrasound attenuation as an experimental bulk probe of domain wall physics in the system. In particular, we predict the appearance of an absorption peak due to domain wall percolation upon tuning the magnetic field across the first-order transition line. We argue that the temperature dependence of this peak could help identify the nature of the phase transition.

cond-mat.supr-con

Strain Modulation Effects on the Topological Properties of a Chiral p-Wave Superconductor

We present a study of strain modulation effects on electronic structures of a two-dimensional single-band chiral p-wave superconductor within the BCS mean-field scheme. We employ a lattice model and numerically solve the corresponding Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations. Assuming that strain modulation only modifies hopping amplitudes, we observe the emergence of local spontaneous supercurrents that are attributed to the non-trivial band topology of the system. We also report that strain modulation could induce the formation of topologically distinct domains within a single system, which is captured by spectral functions and local Chern markers.

cond-mat.supr-con

Superconductivity and Local Inversion-Symmetry Breaking

Inversion and time reversal are essential symmetries for the structure of Cooper pairs in superconductors. The loss of one or both leads to modifications to this structure and can change the properties of the superconducting phases in profound ways. Lacking inversion, superconductivity in noncentrosymmetric materials has become an important topic, in particular, in the context of topological superconductivity as well as unusual magnetic and magneto-electric properties. Recently, crystal structures with local, but not global inversion-symmetry breaking have attracted attention, as superconductivity can exhibit phenomena not naively expected in centrosymmetric materials. After introducing the concept of locally noncentrosymmetric crystals and different material realizations, we discuss consequences of such local symmetry breaking on the classification, the expected and, in parts, already observed phenomenology of unconventional superconductivity, and possible topological superconducting phases.

cond-mat.supr-con

Probing three-state Potts nematic fluctuations by ultrasound attenuation

Motivated by recent studies of three-state Potts nematic states in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene and doped-Bi$_2$Se$_3$, we analyze the impact of critical nematic fluctuations on the low energy properties of phonons. In this study we propose how to identify the three-state Potts nematic fluctuations by ultrasound attenuation. The Gaussian fluctuation analysis shows that the Landau damping term becomes isotropic due to fluctuations of the $C_{3}$-breaking bond-order, and the nemato-elastic coupling is also shown to be isotropic. These two features lead to an isotropic divergence of the transverse sound attenuation coefficient and an isotropic lattice softening, in contrast to the case of the $C_4$-breaking bond-order which shows the strong anisotropy. Moreover, we use a mean-field approximation and discuss the impurity effects. The transition temperature takes its maximum near the filling of the van-Hove singularity, and the large density of states favors the nematic phase transition. It turns out that the phase transition is of weak first-order in the wide range of filling and, with increasing the impurity scattering, the first order transition line at low temperatures gradually shifts towards the second-order line, rendering the transition a weak first-order in a wider range of parameters. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the enhancement of the ultrasound attenuation coefficient will be clearly observed in experiments in the case of a weak first-order phase transition.

cond-mat.str-el

Platform for controllable Majorana zero modes using superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

We propose a novel platform for the creation and manipulation of Majorana zero modes consisting of a ferromagnetic metallic wire placed between conventional superconductors which are in proximity to ferromagnetic insulators. Our device relies on the interplay of applied supercurrents and exchange fields emerging from the ferromagnetic insulators. We assert that the proposed superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures exhibit enhanced controllability, since topological superconductivity can be tuned apart from gate voltages applied on the ferromagnetic wire, also by manipulating the applied supercurrents and/or the magnetisation of the ferromagnetic insulators.

cond-mat.supr-con

Symmetry conditions for the superconducting diode effect in chiral superconductors

We analyze the presence of non-reciprocal critical currents, the so-called superconducting diode effect, in chiral superconductors within a generalized Ginzburg-Landau framework. After deriving its key symmetry conditions we illustrate the basic mechanism for two examples, the critical current in a thin film and a Josephson junction. The appearance of spontaneous edge currents and the energy bias for the formation of Josephson vortices play an essential part in establishing a splitting of the critical currents running in opposite directions. Eventually, this allows us to interpret a superconducting diode effect observed in the 3-Kelvin phase of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ as evidence for spontaneously broken time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting phase.

cond-mat.supr-con

Magnetoelectric torque and edge currents caused by spin-orbit coupling

Using a tight-biding model, we elaborate that the previously discovered out-of-plane polarized helical edge spin current caused by Rashba spin-orbit coupling can be attributed to the fact that in a strip geometry, a positive momentum eigenstate does not always have the same spin polarization at the edge as the corresponding negative momentum eigenstate. In addition, in the presence of a magnetization pointing perpendicular to the edge, an edge charge current is produced, which can be chiral or nonchiral depending on whether the magnetization lies in-plane or out-of-plane. The spin polarization near the edge develops a transverse component orthogonal to the magnetization, which is antisymmetric between the two edges and tends to cause a noncollinear magnetic order between the two edges. If the magnetization only occupies a region near one edge, or in an irregular shaped quantum dot, this transverse component has a nonzero average, rendering a gate voltage-induced magnetoelectric torque without the need of a bias voltage. We also argue that other types of spin-orbit coupling that can be obtained from the Rashba type through a unitary transformation, such as the Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling, will have similar effects too.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Role of Topology and Symmetry for the Edge Currents of a 2D Superconductor

The bulk-boundary correspondence guarantees topologically protected edge states in a two-dimensional topological superconductor. Unlike in topological insulators, these edge states are, however, not connected to a quantized (spin) current as the electron number is not conserved in a Bogolyubov-de Gennes Hamiltonian. Still, edge currents are in general present. Here, we use the two-dimensional Rashba system as an example to systematically analyze the effect symmetry reductions have on the order-parameter mixing and the edge properties in a superconductor of Altland-Zirnbauer class DIII (time-reversal-symmetry preserving) and D (time-reversal-symmetry breaking). In particular, we employ both Ginzburg-Landau and microscopic modeling to analyze the bulk superconducting properties and edge currents appearing in a strip geometry. We find edge (spin) currents independent of bulk topology and associated topological edge states which evolve continuously even when going through a phase transition into a topological state. Our findings emphasize the importance of symmetry over topology for the understanding of the non-quantized edge currents.

cond-mat.supr-con

Non-unitary multiorbital superconductivity from competing interactions in Dirac materials

Unconventional superconductors represent one of the most intriguing quantum states of matter. In particular, multiorbital systems have the potential to host exotic non-unitary superconducting states. While the microscopic origin of non-unitarity is not yet fully solved, competing interactions are suggested to play a crucial role in stabilizing such states. The interplay between charge order and superconductivity has been a recurring theme in unconventionally superconducting systems, ranging from cuprate-based superconductors to dichalcogenide systems and even to twisted van der Waals materials. Here, we demonstrate that the existence of competing interactions gives rise to a non-unitary superconducting state. We show that the non-unitarity stems from a competing charge-ordered state whose interplay with superconductivity promotes a non-trivial multiorbital order. We establish this mechanism both from a Ginzburg-Landau perspective, and also from a fully microscopic selfconsistent solution of a multiorbital Dirac material. Our results put forward competing interactions as a powerful mechanism for driving non-unitary multiorbital superconductivity.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Impurity induced magnetic ordering in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$

Ti substituting Ru in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ in small concentrations induces incommensurate spin density wave order with a wave vector $\boldsymbol{Q} \simeq (2 π/3, 2 π/3)$ corresponding to the nesting vector of two out of three Fermi surface sheets. We consider a microscopic model for these two bands and analyze the correlation effects leading to magnetic order through non-magnetic Ti-doping. For this purpose we use a position dependent mean field approximation for the microscopic model and a phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau approach, which both deliver consistent results and allow us to examine the inhomogeneous magnetic order. Spin-orbit coupling additionally leads to spin currents around each impurity, which in combination with the magnetic polarization produce a charge current pattern. This is also discussed within a gauge field theory in both charge and spin channel. This spin-orbit coupling effect causes an interesting modification of the magnetic structure, if currents run through the system. Our findings allow a more detailed analysis of the experimental data for Sr$_{2}$Ru$_{1-x}$Ti$_{x}$O$_{4}$. In particular, we find that the available measurements are consistent with our theoretical predictions.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetoelectric torque and edge currents in spin-orbit coupled graphene nanoribbons

For graphene nanoribbons with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the peculiar magnetic response due to the presence of a magnetization and geometric confinement are analyzed within a tight-binding model. We observe a sizable transverse susceptibility that can be considered as a gate voltage-induced magnetoelectric torque without the need of a bias voltage, with different directions for zigzag and armchair ribbons. The local torque generates non-collinear spin polarization between the two edges and/or along the ribbon, and the net torque averages to zero if the magnetization is homogeneous. Nevertheless, a nonzero net torque can appear in partially magnetized nanoribbons or in nanoflakes of irregular shapes. The equilibrium spin current produced by the spin-orbit coupling also appears in nanoribbons, but the component flowing in the direction of confinement is strongly suppressed. Even without the magnetization, an out-of-plane polarized chiral edge spin current is produced, resembling that in the quantum spin Hall effect. Moreover, a magnetization pointing perpendicular to the edge produces a laminar flow of edge charge currents, whose flow direction is symmetric (non chiral) or antisymmetric (chiral) between the two edges depends on whether the magnetization points in-plane or out-of-plane.

cond-mat.mes-hall