Pair-density-wave superconductivity and Anderson's theorem in bilayer nickelates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that breaking mirror symmetry in bilayer nickelates via displacement fields stabilizes a novel pair-density-wave superconductor, with robustness against various parameters and insights into disorder effects.

Contribution

It introduces a mechanism to stabilize PDW superconductivity in bilayer nickelates by symmetry breaking, expanding understanding of finite-momentum pairing states.

Findings

PDW phase is stable over a wide parameter range.

Disorder that breaks mirror symmetry weakens pairing.

Bilayer nickelates can host tunable finite-momentum superconductivity.

Abstract

The recent experimental observations of high temperature superconductivity in bilayer nickelate have attracted lots of attentions. Previous studies have assumed a mirror symmetry $\mathcal M$ between the two layers and focused on uniform and clean superconducting states. Here, we show that breaking this mirror symmetry via an applied displacement field can stabilize a pair-density-wave (PDW) superconductor, which is similar to the Fulde--Ferrell--Larkin--Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state, but at zero magnetic field. Based on a mean-field analysis of a model of $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital with an effective inter-layer attraction, we demonstrate that the PDW phase is robust over a wide range of displacement field, interlayer hopping strengths, and electron fillings. Finally, we analyze disorder effects on interlayer superconductivity within the first Born approximation. Based on symmetry considerations, we show that pairing is weaken by disorders which break the mirror symmetry, even with unbroken time reversal symmetry. Our results establish bilayer nickelate as a tunable platform for realizing finite-momentum pairing and for exploring generalized disorder effects.