Phase solitons in a weakly coupled three-component superconductor

TL;DR

This paper explores phase solitonic states in three-component superconductors using Ginzburg-Landau theory, revealing their metastability and implications for detecting broken time-reversal symmetry in multiband systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates the thermodynamic metastability of phase solitons in three-component superconductors and validates previous detection methods for broken time-reversal symmetry.

Findings

Solitonic states are metastable and separated by sizable energy barriers.

Detection methods for BTRS remain valid in the presence of phase solitons.

Analysis is based on Ginzburg-Landau theory in mesoscopic geometries.

Abstract

Based on the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau approach, we investigate phase solitonic states in a class of three-component superconductors for mesoscopic doubly-connected geometry (thin-walled cylinder) in external magnetic fields. Analysis of the Gibbs free energy of the system shows that solitonic states in a three-component superconductor are thermodynamically metastable and separated from the ground state by a sizable energy. Our results demonstrate that despite of the presence of the zoo of phase solitons states earlier proposed method [Phys. Rev. B 96, 144513 (2017)] for the detection of BTRS in multiband superconductors remains valid and useful.