Enhancement of superconductivity outside an Abrikosov vortex core in a tightly bound Cooper pair superconductor

TL;DR

This paper reveals that in tightly bound Cooper pair superconductors at zero temperature, the superconductive electron density outside a vortex core can exceed its bulk value due to electrostatic effects, altering traditional behavior.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel phenomenon where superconductive electron density peaks outside the vortex core in strongly bound Cooper pair superconductors, driven by electrostatic charge imbalance.

Findings

Superconductive electron density surpasses bulk value outside vortex core.

Electric fields generated due to charge imbalance influence vortex structure.

Effect is most significant with strong electrostatic screening.

Abstract

Abrikosov vortices play a central role in the disruption of superconductivity in type-II superconductors. It is commonly accepted that as one moves away from the vortex's axis of an $s$-wave superconductor, the density of superconductive electrons gradually increases from zero to its bulk value. However, we demonstrate that this behavior is qualitatively altered in the zero-temperature limit provided that the Cooper pairs comprising the superconductive liquid are sufficiently tightly bound. Specifically, outside the vortex core, the density of superconductive electrons reaches a maximum surpassing its bulk value. This phenomenon has electrostatic origins: since normal electrons are absent and there exists a charged ionic background, the spatial variation of the charge density of superconductive electrons violates local neutrality, leading to the generation of an electric field. This electric field shrinks the vortex core and turns the density profile into that with a maximum, ensuring global neutrality. The effect is most pronounced in the limit of strong electrostatic screening, where the field configurations describing the vortex attain a universal form, with the electric field screened over a length scale determined by the London penetration depth.