Magnetically-textured superconductivity in elemental Rhenium

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive theoretical analysis of superconductivity in elemental rhenium, revealing how strong spin-orbit coupling and multi-orbital effects induce an exotic magnetic state coexisting with conventional superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides a detailed microscopic theory explaining the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in rhenium, highlighting the role of spin-orbit coupling and orbital physics.

Findings

Conventional s-wave pairing induces odd-orbital spin triplet pairs.

Strong spin-orbit coupling leads to an exotic magnetic state.

Cooper pair migration between triplet components causes magnetic phenomena.

Abstract

Recent $\mu$SR measurements revealed remarkable signatures of spontaneous magnetism coexisting with superconductivity in elemental rhenium. Here we provide a quantitative theory that uncovers the nature of the superconducting instability by incorporating every details of the electronic structure together with spin-orbit coupling and multi-orbital physics. We show that conventional $s$-wave superconductivity combined with strong spin-orbit coupling is inducing even-parity odd-orbital spin triplet Cooper pairs, and in presence of a screw axis Cooper pairs' migration between the induced equal-spin triplet component leads to an exotic magnetic state.