Emergent phenomena in multicomponent superconductivity: an introduction to the focus issue

TL;DR

This paper introduces a focus issue on multicomponent superconductivity, highlighting its complex physics and emergent phenomena arising from multiple degrees of freedom in various materials.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the emerging quantum effects and phenomena in multicomponent superconductors across different material systems.

Findings

Multicomponent superconductors exhibit unique emergent quantum phenomena.

Different electronic orbitals and carriers contribute to complex superconducting states.

Multicomponent systems enable effects unattainable in single-component superconductors.

Abstract

Multicomponent superconductivity is a novel quantum phenomenon in many different superconducting materials, such as multiband ones in which different superconducting gaps open in different Fermi surfaces, films engineered at the atomic scale to enter the quantum confined regime, multilayers, two-dimensional electron gases at the oxide interfaces, and complex materials in which different electronic orbitals or different carriers participate in the formation of the superconducting condensate. In all these systems the increased number of degrees of freedom of the multicomponent superconducting wave-function allows for emergent quantum effects that are otherwise unattainable in single-component superconductors. In this editorial paper we introduce the present focus issue, exploring the complex but fascinating physics of multicomponent superconductivity.