2011/03/01 by Xiao Hu, Zhi Wang, Hu, Xiao +1
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Iron-based superconductors research #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1103.0123
openalex publication_date 2011/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Superconductivity is associated with spontaneously broken gauge symmetry. In some exotic superconductors the time-reversal symmetry is broken as well, accompanied with internal magnetic field. A time-reversal symmetry broken (TRSB) superconductivity without internal magnetic field involved can be induced by frustrated inter-component couplings, which becomes a realistic issue recently due to the discovery of iron-pnictide superconductors. Here we derive stability condition for this novel TRSB state using the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory. We find that there are multiple divergent coherence lengths, and that this novel superconductivity cannot be categorized by the GL number into type I or type II. We reveal that the critical Josephson current of a constriction junction between two bulk superconductors of different chiralities is suppressed significantly from that for same chirality. This effect provides a unique way to verify experimentally this brand new superconductivity.