Interplay between Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in a Multi-layered System

TL;DR

This paper investigates how antiferromagnetism influences superconductivity in a layered system, revealing mutual effects on supercurrent and magnetic order, with implications for quantum device design.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic model analyzing the interplay between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in multilayered systems using self-consistent mean-field theory.

Findings

Antiferromagnetism significantly affects supercurrent flow.

Phase difference influences antiferromagnetic order.

Insights applicable to high-$T_{c}$ superconductor mechanisms.

Abstract

Based on a microscopic model, we study the interplay between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in a multi-layered system, where two superconductors are separated by an antiferromagnetic region. Within a self-consistent mean-field theory, this system is solved numerically. We find that the antiferromagnetism in the middle layers profoundly affects the supercurrent flowing across the junction, while the phase difference across the junction influences the development of antiferromagnetism in the middle layers. This study may not only shed new light on the mechanism for high-$T_{c}$ superconductors, but also bring important insights to building Josephson-junction-based quantum devices, such as SQUID and superconducting qubit.