Pair-density-wave in quarter-metals from a repulsive fermionic interaction in graphene heterostructures: A renormalization group study

TL;DR

This study uses renormalization group analysis to demonstrate that repulsive interactions in quarter-metal phases of graphene heterostructures can induce a chiral, odd-parity pair-density-wave superconducting state, potentially explaining experimental observations.

Contribution

It reveals that repulsive density interactions can lead to pair-density-wave superconductivity in quarter-metals of graphene heterostructures, a novel mechanism in this context.

Findings

Repulsive interactions can induce pair-density-wave order.

The superconducting state is chiral and odd parity.

Connection to experimental superconductivity near quarter-metal phase.

Abstract

Electronic bands in chirally stacked $n$ layer carbon-based honeycomb heterostructures, encompassing rhombohedral ($n \geq 3$), Bernal bilayer ($n=2$), and monolayer ($n=1$) graphene, possess four-fold valley and spin degeneracy. Such systems with $n \geq 2$, when subject to external perpendicular electric displacement fields, feature a fully degenerate metal at high doping, a spin non-degenerate but valley degenerate half-metal at moderate doping, and a non-degenerate quarter-metal at low doping. Due to the fully polarized nature of the quasiparticles in the quarter-metal, realized around one particular valley otherwise chosen spontaneously, it can sustain a single local superconducting ground state, representing a pair-density-wave that is chiral and odd parity in nature. From a leading order renormalization group analysis, here we show that repulsive density-density interaction among such polarized fermionic excitations can foster the pair-density-wave phase at low temperatures. Possible connections with experimentally observed superconducting states in the close vicinity of the quarter-metal in some members of such graphene heterostructures family are discussed.