Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell phase in the superconductor (TMTSF)2ClO4: Theory versus experiment

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates the LOFF phase formation in the Q1D superconductor (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ under magnetic fields, considering both paramagnetic and orbital effects, and compares results with recent experimental findings.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical explanation for the LOFF phase in (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ considering weak orbital effects, aligning with recent experimental data.

Findings

LOFF phase appears in (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ due to weak orbital effects

Theoretical results agree qualitatively and quantitatively with experiments

The model accounts for paramagnetic and orbital effects in Q1D superconductors

Abstract

We consider a formation of the Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) phase in a quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) conductor in a magnetic field, parallel to its conducting chains, where we take into account both the paramagnetic spin-splitting and orbital destructive effects against superconductivity. We show that, due to a relative weakness of the orbital effects in a Q1D case, the LOFF phase appears in (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$ superconductor for real values of its Q1D band parameters. We compare our theoretical calculations with the recent experimental data by Y. Maeno's group [S. Yonezawa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{100}, 117002 (2008)] and show that there is a good qualitative and quantitative agreement between the theory and experimental data.