Antiferromagnetic order and dielectric gap within the vortex core of antiferromagnetic superconductor

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical study of vortex structures in dirty antiferromagnetic superconductors, revealing that vortex cores are insulating and antiferromagnetic, with coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism increasing at lower temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a model for antiferromagnetic superconductors showing unique vortex core properties, including insulating and antiferromagnetic cores, differing from traditional superconductors.

Findings

Vortex cores are insulating and antiferromagnetic.

Antiferromagnetic order is restored around the vortex flux.

Coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism increases at lower temperatures.

Abstract

The structure of a superconducting vortex has been studied theoretically for a dirty antiferromagnetic superconductor (AFSC), modelling an AFSC as a doped semi-metal with s-wave superconducting pairing and antiferromagnetic (dielectric) interaction between electrons (holes). It is also supposed that the quasiparticles dispersion law possesses the property of nesting. The distribution of the superconducting and magnetic order parameters near the vortex core is calculated. It is shown that the antiferromagnetic order, been suppressed at large distances, is restored around the superconducting flux and the vortex core is in fact insulating and antiferromagnetic, in stark contrast to the normal metal cores of traditional superconductors. Moreover, our model calculations predict that as the temperature decreases the flux region of the superconductivity and antiferromagnetism coexistence increases.