Muon spin rotation studies of electronic excitations and magnetism in the vortex cores of superconductors

TL;DR

This paper reviews muon spin rotation studies of vortex cores in type-II superconductors, highlighting its accuracy in probing electronic excitations and magnetism, and discussing implications for understanding competing orders and quantum phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of muSR techniques applied to vortex cores, emphasizing new insights into electronic states and magnetic phenomena in superconductors.

Findings

Muon spin rotation accurately measures vortex core size across various materials.

muSR detects static or quasistatic magnetism near vortex cores in high-temperature superconductors.

Evidence supports a phase diagram with competing superconducting and magnetic orders.

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on recent progress in muon spin rotation (muSR) studies of the vortex cores in type-II superconductors. By comparison of muSR measurements of the vortex core size in a variety of materials with results from techniques that directly probe electronic states, the effect of delocalized quasiparticles on the spatial variation of field in a lattice of interacting vortices has been determined for both single-band and multi-band superconductors. These studies demonstrate the remarkable accuracy of what some still consider an exotic technique. In recent years muSR has also been used to search for magnetism in and around the vortex cores of high-temperature superconductors. As a local probe muSR is specially suited for detecting static or quasistatic magnetism having short-range or random spatial correlations. As discussed in this review, muSR experiments support a generic phase diagram of competing superconducting and magnetic order parameters, characterized by a quantum phase transition to a state where the competing order is spatially nonuniform.