Type-1.5 superconductivity in multiband systems: magnetic response, broken symmetries and microscopic theory. A brief overview

TL;DR

This paper reviews the concept of type-1.5 superconductivity in multiband systems, highlighting their unique magnetic responses, vortex interactions, and the semi-Meissner state, supported by Ginzburg-Landau and microscopic theories.

Contribution

It introduces the idea of type-1.5 superconductivity with multiple length scales and discusses the resulting vortex behaviors and phases in multicomponent systems.

Findings

Vortices attract at long range but repel at short range in type-1.5 superconductors.

The semi-Meissner state features vortex clustering and negative energy interfaces.

Recent Ginzburg-Landau and microscopic models support these phenomena.

Abstract

A conventional superconductor is described by a single complex order parameter field which has two fundamental length scales, the magnetic field penetration depth \lambda and the coherence length \xi. Their ratio \kappa determines the response of a superconductor to an external field, sorting them into two categories as follows; type-I when \kappa <1/\sqrt{2} and type-II when \kappa >1/\sqrt{2} . We overview here multicomponent systems which can possess three or more fundamental length scales and allow a separate "type-1.5" superconducting state when, e.g. in two-component case \xi_1<\sqrt{2}\lambda<\xi_2. In that state, as a consequence of the extra fundamental length scale, vortices attract one another at long range but repel at shorter ranges. As a consequence the system should form an additional Semi-Meissner state which properties we discuss below. In that state vortices form clusters in low magnetic fields. Inside the cluster one of the component is depleted and the superconductor-to-normal interface has negative energy. In contrast the current in second component is mostly concentrated on the cluster's boundary, making the energy of this interface positive. Here we briefly overview recent developments in Ginzburg-Landau and microscopic descriptions of this state.