This phase diagram depicts the presence of a six-fold anisotropic orbital FFLO state, which occupies a substantial portion of the phase diagram. In the top right corner, schematic illustrations showcase the spatial modulation of the superconducting order parameter. Image: P. Wan/University of Groningen.Scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, together with colleagues from the Dutch universities of Nijmegen and Twente and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, have confirmed the existence of a superconducting state that was first predicted in 2017. In a paper in Nature, they report evidence for a special variant of the FFLO superconducting state. This discovery could have significant applications, particularly in the field of superconducting electronics.
The lead author of the paper is Justin Ye, who heads the Device Physics of Complex Materials group at the University of Groningen. Ye and his team have been working on the Ising superconducting state, which is marked by its ability to resist the magnetic fields that generally destroy superconductivity and was first described by the team in 2015.
In 2019, they created a device comprising a double layer of molybdenum disulfide that could couple the Ising superconductivity states residing in the two layers. Interestingly, this device made it possible to switch the protection against magnetic fields provided by Ising superconductivity on or off using an electric field, producing a superconducting transistor.
The coupled Ising superconductor device sheds light on a long-standing challenge in the field of superconductivity. In 1964, four scientists predicted a special superconducting state that could exist under conditions of low temperature and a strong magnetic field, referred to as the FFLO state. In standard superconductivity, electrons travel in opposite directions as Cooper pairs. Since they travel at the same speed, these electrons have a total kinetic momentum of zero. However, in the FFLO state, there is a small speed difference between the electrons in the Cooper pairs, which means there is a net kinetic momentum.
“This state is very elusive and there are only a handful of articles claiming its existence in normal superconductors,” says Ye. “However, none of these are conclusive.”
To create the FFLO state in a conventional superconductor, a strong magnetic field is needed. But the role played by the magnetic field needs careful tweaking. Simply put, for the magnetic field to play two roles, the Zeeman effect needs to be utilized. This separates the electrons in Cooper pairs based on the direction of their spins (a magnetic moment) but not the orbital effect – the other role that normally destroys superconductivity. “It is a delicate negotiation between superconductivity and the external magnetic field,” explains Ye.
Ising superconductivity suppresses the Zeeman effect. “By filtering out the key ingredient that makes conventional FFLO possible, we provided ample space for the magnetic field to play its other role, namely the orbital effect,” Ye explains. “What we have demonstrated in our paper is a clear fingerprint of the orbital-effect-driven FFLO state in our Ising superconductor. This is an unconventional FFLO state, first described in theory in 2017.”
The FFLO state in conventional superconductors requires extremely low temperatures and a very strong magnetic field, which makes it difficult to create. However, in Ye’s Ising superconductor, the state can be reached with a weaker magnetic field and at higher temperatures.
In fact, Ye first observed signs of an FFLO state in his molybdenum disulfide superconducting device in 2019. “At that time, we could not prove this, because the samples were not good enough,” he says. However, his PhD student Puhua Wan has since succeeded in producing samples of the material that fulfilled all the requirements for showing that there is indeed a finite momentum in the Cooper pairs. “The actual experiments took half a year, but the analysis of the results added another year,” says Ye.
This new superconducting state now needs further investigation. “There is a lot to learn about it. For example, how does the kinetic momentum influence the physical parameters? Studying this state will provide new insights into superconductivity. And this may enable us to control this state in devices such as transistors. That is our next challenge.”
This story is adapted from material from the University of Groningen, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source.