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We measured the temporal voltage response of NbTi superconducting filaments with varied nanoscale thicknesses to step current pulses that induce non-equilibrium superconducting states governed by a hot-spot mechanism. Such detected voltage emerges after a delay time td, which is intimately connected to the gap relaxation and heat escape times. By employing time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory to link the delay time to the applied current, we determined that the gap relaxation time depends linearly on film thickness, aligning with the acoustic mismatch theory for phonon transmission at the superconductor-substrate interface. We thereby find a gap relaxation time of 104 ps per nm of thickness for NbTi films on polished sapphire. We further show that interfacial interaction with the substrate significantly impacts the gap relaxation time, with observed values of 9 ns on SiOx, 6.8 ns on fused silica, and 5.2 ns on sapphire for a 50 nm thick NbTi strip at T = 5.75 K. These insights are valuable for optimizing superconducting sensing technologies, particularly the single-photon detectors that operate in the transient regime of nanothin superconducting bridges and filaments, Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

The vibrational properties of 2H-TaSe$_{2-x}$S$_x$ ($0 \le x \le 2$) single crystals were probed using Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. The end members revealed two out of four symmetry-predicted Raman active modes, together with the pronounced two-phonon structure, attributable to the enhanced electron-phonon coupling. Additional peaks become observable due to crystallographic disorder for the doped samples. The evolution of the E$_{2g}^2$ mode Fano parameter reveals that the disorder has weak impact on electron-phonon coupling, which is also supported by the persistence of two-phonon structure in doped samples. As such, this research provides thorough insights into the lattice properties, the effects of crystallographic disorder on Raman spectra, and the interplay of this disorder with the electron-phonon coupling in 2H-TaSe$_{2-x}$S$_x$ compounds.

Seminal Goodenough-Kanamori-Anderson (GKA) rules provide the inceptive understanding of the superexchange interaction of two magnetic metal ions bridged with an anion, and suggest fostered ferromagnetic interaction for orthogonal bridging bonds. However, there are no examples of two-dimensional (2D) materials with structure that optimizes the GKA arguments towards enhanced ferromagnetism and its critical temperature. Here we reveal that an ideally planar GKA ferromagnetism is indeed stable in selected tetragonal transition-metal xenes (tTMXs), with Curie temperature above 300~K found in CrC and MnC. We provide the general orbitally-resolved analysis of magnetic interactions that supports the claims and sheds light at the mechanisms dominating the magnetic exchange process in these structures. With recent advent of epitaxially-grown tetragonal 2D materials, our findings earmark tTMXs for facilitated spintronic and magnonic applications, or as a desirable magnetic constituent of functional 2D heterostructures.

We investigate the coupling factor $\phi_\mu$ that quantifies the magnetic flux $\Phi$ per magnetic moment $\mu$ of a point-like magnetic dipole that couples to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Representing the dipole by a current-carrying loop, the reciprocity of mutual inductances of SQUID and loop provides a way of calculating $\phi_\mu(\vec{r}, \vec{e}_\mu)$ vs.~position $\vec{r}$ and orientation $\vec{e}_\mu$ of the dipole anywhere in space from the magnetic field $B(\vec{r})$ produced by a supercurrent circulating in the SQUID loop. We use numerical simulations based on London and Ginzburg-Landau theory to calculate $\phi_\mu$ from the supercurrent density distributions in various SQUID geometries. We treat the far-field regime ($r\gtrsim a=$ inner size of the SQUID loop) with the dipole placed on the symmetry axis of circular or square shaped loops. We compare expressions for $\phi_\mu$ from filamentary loop models with simulation results for loops with finite width $w$ (outer size $A>a$), thickness $d$ and London penetration depth $\lambda_L$ and show that for thin ($d\ll a$) and narrow ($w < a$) loops the introduction of an effective loop size $a_{\rm eff}$ in the filamentary loop-model expressions results in agreement with simulations. For a dipole placed in the center of the loop, simulations provide an expression $\phi_\mu(a,A,d,\lambda_L)$ that covers a wide parameter range. In the near-field regime (dipole centered at small distance $z$ above one SQUID arm) only coupling to a single strip representing the SQUID arm has to be considered. Here, we compare simulations with an analytical expression derived for a homogeneous current density distribution, which yields excellent agreement for $\lambda_L>w,d$. Moreover, we analyze $\phi_\mu$ provided by the introduction of a constriction in the SQUID arm below the magnetic dipole.

Two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb ferromagnets, such as monolayer chromium-trihalides, are predicted to behave as topological magnon insulators - characterized by an insulating bulk and topologically protected edge states, giving rise to a thermal magnon Hall effect. Here we report the behavior of the topological magnons in monolayer CrI$_3$ under external stimuli, including biaxial and uniaxial strain, electric gating, as well as in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic field, revealing that one can thereby tailor the magnetic states as well as the size and the topology of the magnonic bandgap. These findings broaden the perspective of using 2D magnetic materials to design topological magnonic devices.

Motivated by the potential of atomically-thin magnets towards tunable high-frequency magnonics, we detail the spin-wave dispersion of bilayer CrI$_3$. We demonstrate that the magnonic behavior of the bilayer strongly depends on its stacking configuration and the interlayer magnetic ordering, where a topological bandgap opens in the dispersion caused by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and Kitaev interactions, classifying bilayer CrI$_3$ as a topological magnon insulator. We further reveal that both size and topology of the bandgap in a CrI$_3$ bilayer with an antiferromagnetic interlayer ordering are tunable by an external magnetic field.

Ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and DFT plus coherent potential approximation (DFT+CPA) are employed to reveal, respectively, the effect of in-plane strain and site-diagonal disorder on the electronic structure of cubic boron arsenide (BAs). It is demonstrated that tensile strain and static diagonal disorder both reduce the semiconducting one-particle band gap of BAs, and a V-shaped p-band electronic state emerges -- enabling advanced valleytronics based on strained and disordered semiconducting bulk crystals. At biaxial tensile strains close to 15% the valence band lineshape relevant for optoelectronics is shown to coincide with one reported for GaAs at low energies. The role played by static disorder on the As sites is to promote p-type conductivity in the unstrained BAs bulk crystal, consistent with experimental observations. These findings illuminate the intricate and interdependent changes in crystal structure and lattice disorder on the electronic degrees of freedom of semiconductors and semimetals., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; regular paper

Owing to its inherent non-trivial geometry, the unique structural motif of the recently discovered Kagome topological superconductor AV3Sb5 is an ideal host of diverse topologically non-trivial phenomena, including giant anomalous Hall conductivity, topological charge order, charge density wave, and unconventional superconductivity. Despite possessing a normal-state CDW order in the form of topological chiral charge order and diverse superconducting gaps structures, it remains unclear how fundamental atomic-level properties and many-body effects including Fermi surface nesting, electron-phonon coupling, and orbital hybridization contribute to these symmetry-breaking phenomena. Here, we report the direct participation of the V3d-Sb5p orbital hybridization in mediating the CDW phase transition in CsV3Sb5. The combination of temperature-dependent X-ray absorption and first principles studies clearly indicate the Inverse Star of David structure as the preferred reconstruction in the low-temperature CDW phase. Our results highlight the critical role that Sb orbitals plays and establish orbital hybridization as the direct mediator of the CDW states and structural transition dynamics in Kagome unconventional superconductors. This is a significant step towards the fundamental understanding and control of the emerging correlated phases from the Kagome lattice through the orbital interactions and provide promising approaches to novel regimes in unconventional orders and topology.

A strong superconducting diode effect (SDE) is revealed in a thin superconducting film periodically nanostructured with magnetic dots. The SDE is caused by the current-activated dissipation mitigated by vortex-antivortex pairs (VAPs), which periodically nucleate under the dots, move and annihilate in the superconductor - eventually driving the system to the high-resistive state. Inversing the polarity of the applied current destimulates the nucleation of VAPs, the system remains superconducting up to far larger currents, leading to the pronounced diodic response. Our dissipative Ginzburg-Landau simulations detail the involved processes, and provide reliable geometric and parametric ranges for the experimental realization of such a non-volatile superconducting diode, which operates in absence of any applied magnetic field while being fluxonic by design., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures continue to attract intense interest as a route of designing materials with novel properties that cannot be found in naturally occurring materials. Unfortunately, this approach is currently limited to only a few layers that can be stacked on top of each other. Here we report a bulk material consisting of superconducting monolayers interlayered with monolayers displaying charge density waves (CDW). This bulk vdW heterostructure is created by phase transition of 1T-TaS2 to 6R at 800 {\deg}C in an inert atmosphere. Electron microscopy analysis directly shows the presence of alternating 1T and 1H monolayers within the resulting bulk 6R phase. Its superconducting transition (Tc) is found at 2.6 K, exceeding the Tc of the bulk 2H phase of TaS2. The superconducting temperature can be further increased to 3.6 K by exfoliating 6R-TaS2 and then restacking its layers. Using first-principles calculations, we argue that the coexistence of superconductivity and CDW within 6R-TaS2 stems from amalgamation of the properties of adjacent 1H and 1T monolayers, where the former dominates the superconducting state and the latter the CDW behavior.

We investigated experimentally the valley Zeeman splitting of excitonic peaks in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of high-quality hBN/WS2/MoSe2/hBN heterostructures at near-zero twist angles under perpendicular magnetic fields up to 20 T. We identify two neutral exciton peaks in the PL spectra: the lower energy one exhibits a reduced g-factor relative to that of the higher energy peak, and much lower than the recently reported values for interlayer excitons in other van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. We provide evidence that such a discernible g-factor stems from the spatial confinement of the exciton in the potential landscape created by the moire pattern, due tolattice mismatch and/or inter-layer twist in heterobilayers. This renders magneto-PL an important tool to reach deeper understanding of the effect of moire patterns on excitonic confinement in vdW heterostructures., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Submitted

Using a particle-based model we examine the depinning motion of solitons in skyrmion chains in quasi-one dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) systems containing embedded 1D interfaces. The solitons take the form of a particle or hole in a commensurate chain of skyrmions. Under an applied drive, just above a critical depinning threshold the soliton moves with a skyrmion Hall angle of zero. For higher drives, the entire chain depins, and in a 2D system we observe that both the solitons and chain move at zero skyrmion Hall angle and then transition to a finite skyrmion Hall angle as the drive increases. In a 2D system with a 1D interface that is at an angle to the driving direction, there can be a reversal of the sign of the skyrmion Hall angle from positive to negative. Our results suggest that solitons in skyrmion systems could be used as information carriers in racetrack geometries that would avoid the drawbacks of finite skyrmion Hall angles. The soliton states become mobile at significantly lower drives than the depinning transition of the skyrmion chains themselves., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures

A Raman scattering study covering the entire substitution range of the FeSe$_{1-x}$S$_x$ solid solution is presented. Data were taken as a function of sulfur concentration $x$ for $0\le x \le 1$, of temperature and of scattering symmetry. All type of excitations including phonons, spins and charges are analyzed in detail. It is observed that the energy and width of iron-related B$_{1g}$ phonon mode vary continuously across the entire range of sulfur substitution. The A$_{1g}$ chalcogenide mode disappears above $x=0.23$ and reappears at a much higher energy for $x=0.69$. In a similar way the spectral features appearing at finite doping in A$_{1g}$ symmetry vary discontinuously. The magnetic excitation centered at approximately 500 cm$^{-1}$ disappears above $x=0.23$ where the A$_{1g}$ lattice excitations exhibit a discontinuous change in energy. The low-energy mode associated with fluctuations displays maximal intensity at the nemato-structural transition and thus tracks the phase boundary.

The exploration of the universe has recently entered a new era thanks to the multi-messenger paradigm, characterized by a continuous increase in the quantity and quality of experimental data that is obtained by the detection of the various cosmic messengers (photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves) from numerous origins. They give us information about their sources in the universe and the properties of the intergalactic medium. Moreover, multi-messenger astronomy opens up the possibility to search for phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity. On the one hand, the most energetic events allow us to test our physical theories at energy regimes which are not directly accessible in accelerators; on the other hand, tiny effects in the propagation of very high energy particles could be amplified by cosmological distances. After decades of merely theoretical investigations, the possibility of obtaining phenomenological indications of Planck-scale effects is a revolutionary step in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity, but it requires cooperation between different communities of physicists (both theoretical and experimental). This review is aimed at promoting this cooperation by giving a state-of-the art account of the interdisciplinary expertise that is needed in the effective search of quantum gravity footprints in the production, propagation and detection of cosmic messengers., Comment: This review was written by participants of the COST Action CA18108. Further information on the review can be found at https://qg-mm.unizar.es/review/, updated to published version

The moir\'e pattern observed in stacked non-commensurate crystal lattices, such as hetero-bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides, produces a periodic modulation of their bandgap. Excitons subjected to this potential landscape exhibit a band structure that gives rise to a quasi-particle dubbed moir\'e exciton. In the case of MoS$_2$/WSe$_2$ hetero-bilayers, the moir\'e trapping potential has honeycomb symmetry and, consequently, the moir\'e exciton band structure is the same as that of a Dirac-Weyl fermion, whose mass can be further tuned down to zero with a perpendicularly applied field. Here we show that, analogously to other Dirac-like particles, moir\'e exciton exhibits a trembling motion, also known as zitterbewegung, whose long timescales are compatible with current experimental techniques for exciton dynamics. This promotes the study of the dynamics of moir\'e excitons in van der Waals heterostructures as an advantageous solid-state platform to probe zitterbewegung, broadly tunable by gating and inter-layer twist angle., Comment: https://journals.aps.org/prl/accepted/ea07cYf6O1518a78f1ac7684907511e93e68803ff

We report experimental coupling of chiral magnetism and superconductivity in [IrFeCoPt]/Nb heterostructures. The stray field of skyrmions with radius ~50nm is sufficient to nucleate antivortices in a 25nm Nb film, with unique signatures in the magnetization, critical current and flux dynamics, corroborated via simulations. We also detect a thermally-tunable Rashba-Edelstein exchange coupling in the isolated skyrmion phase. This realization of a strongly interacting skyrmion-(anti)vortex system opens a path towards controllable topological hybrid materials, unattainable to date., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

After the discovery of magnetism in monolayer CrI3, the magnetic properties of different 2D materials from the chromium-trihalide family are intuitively assumed to be similar, yielding magnetic anisotropy from the spin-orbit coupling on halide ligands. Here we reveal significant differences between the CrI3 and CrBr3 magnetic monolayers in their magnetic anisotropy, resulting Curie temperature, hysteresis in external magnetic field, and evolution of magnetism with strain, all predominantly attributed to distinctly different interplay of atomic contributions to spin-orbit coupling in two materials.

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable nanoscale particle-like objects that were discovered in 2009. Since that time, intense research interest has led to the identification of numerous compounds that support skyrmions over a range of conditions spanning cryogenic to room temperatures. Skyrmions can be set into motion under various types of driving, and the combination of their size, stability, and dynamics makes them ideal candidates for numerous applications. Skyrmions represent a new class of system in which the energy scales of the skyrmion-skyrmion interactions, sample disorder, temperature, and drive can compete. A growing body of work indicates that the static and dynamic states of skyrmions can be influenced strongly by pinning or disorder in the sample; thus, an understanding of such effects is essential for the eventual use of skyrmions in applications. In this article we review the current state of knowledge regarding individual skyrmions and skyrmion assemblies interacting with quenched disorder or pinning. We outline the microscopic mechanisms for skyrmion pinning, including the repulsive and attractive interactions that can arise from impurities, grain boundaries, or nanostructures. This is followed by descriptions of depinning phenomena, sliding states over disorder, the effect of pinning on the skyrmion Hall angle, the competition between thermal and pinning effects, the control of skyrmion motion using ordered potential landscapes such as one- or two-dimensional periodic asymmetric substrates, the creation of skyrmion diodes, and skyrmion ratchet effects. We highlight the distinctions arising from internal modes and the strong gyroscopic or Magnus forces that cause the dynamical states of skyrmions to differ from those of other systems with pinning. We also discuss future directions and open questions related to the pinning and dynamics in skyrmion systems., Comment: 66 pages, 71 figures

We present a polarization-resolved, high-resolution Raman scattering study of the three consecutive charge density wave (CDW) regimes in $1T$-TaS$_2$ single crystals, supported by \textit{ab initio} calculations. Our analysis of the spectra within the low-temperature commensurate (C-CDW) regime shows $\mathrm{P3}$ symmetry of the system, thus excluding the previously proposed triclinic stacking of the "star-of-David" structure, and promoting trigonal or hexagonal stacking instead. The spectra of the high-temperature incommensurate (IC-CDW) phase directly project the phonon density of states due to the breaking of the translational invariance, supplemented by sizeable electron-phonon coupling. Between 200 and 352\,K, our Raman spectra show contributions from both the IC-CDW and the C-CDW phase, indicating their coexistence in the so-called nearly-commensurate (NC-CDW) phase. The temperature-dependence of the symmetry-resolved Raman conductivity indicates the stepwise reduction of the density of states in the CDW phases, followed by a Mott transition within the C-CDW phase. We determine the size of the Mott gap to be $\Omega_{\rm gap}\approx 170-190$ meV, and track its temperature dependence.

We study the ratchet effect in a narrow pinning-free superconductive ring based on time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equations. Voltage responses to external dc an ac currents at various magnetic fields are studied. Due to asymmetric barriers for flux penetration and flux exit in the ring-shaped superconductor, the critical current above which the flux-flow state is reached, as well as the critical current for the transition to the normal state, are different for the two directions of applied current. These effects cooperatively cause ratchet signal reversal at high magnetic fields, which has not been reported to date in a pinning-free system. The ratchet signal found here is larger than those induced by asymmetric pinning potentials. Our results also demonstrate the feasibility of using mesoscopic superconductors to employ superconducting diode effect in versatile superconducting devices., Comment: 8 pages,6 figures

A wave-packet time evolution method, based on the split-operator technique, is developed to investigate the scattering of quasi-particles at a normal-superconductor interface of arbitrary profile and shape. As a practical application, we consider a system where low energy electrons can be described as Dirac particles, which is the case for most two-dimensional materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. However the method is easily adapted for other cases such as electrons in few layer black phosphorus, or any Schr\"odinger quasi-particles within the effective mass approximation in semiconductors. We employ the method to revisit Andreev reflection in graphene, where specular and retro reflection cases are observed for electrons scattered by a step-like superconducting region. The effect of opening a zero-gap channel across the superconducting region on the electron and hole scattering is also addressed, as an example of the versatility of the technique proposed here.

We report the direct measurement of the topological skyrmion energy barrier through a hysteresis of the skyrmion lattice in the chiral magnet MnSi. Measurements were made using small-angle neutron scattering with a custom-built resistive coil to allow for high-precision minor hysteresis loops. The experimental data was analyzed using an adapted Preisach model to quantify the energy barrier for skyrmion formation and corroborated by the minimum-energy path analysis based on atomistic spin simulations. We reveal that the skyrmion lattice in MnSi forms from the conical phase progressively in small domains, each of which consisting of hundreds of skyrmions, and with an activation barrier of several eV., Comment: Final accepted version

Motivated by the recent synthesis of two-dimensional $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ [Balan $et$ $al.$ Nat. Nanotech. 13, 602 (2018)], we analyze the structural, vibrational, electronic and magnetic properties of single- and few-layer $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ compared to bulk, by $ab-initio$ and Monte-Carlo simulations. We reveal how monolayer $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ (hematene) can be distinguished from the few-layer structures, and how they all differ from bulk through observable Raman spectra. The optical spectra exhibit gradual shift of the prominent peak to higher energy, as well as additional features at lower energy when $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ is thinned down to a monolayer. Both optical and electronic properties have strong spin asymmetry, meaning that lower-energy optical and electronic activities are allowed for the single-spin state. Finally, our considerations of magnetic properties reveal that 2D hematite has anti-ferromagnetic ground state for all thicknesses, but the critical temperature for Morin transition increases with decreasing sample thickness. On all accounts, the link to available experimental data is made, and further measurements are prompted.

We report characteristic vortex configurations in $s+id$ superconductors with time reversal symmetry breaking, exposed to magnetic field. A vortex in the $s+id$ state tends to have an opposite phase winding between $s-$ and $d-$wave condensates. We find that this peculiar feature together with the competition between $s-$ and $d-$wave symmetry results in three distinct classes of vortical configurations. When either $s-$ or $d-$ condensate absolutely dominates, vortices form a conventional lattice. However, when one condensate is relatively dominant, vortices organize in chains that exhibit skyrmionic character, separating the chiral components of the $s \pm id$ order parameter into domains within and outside the chain. Such skyrmionic chains are found stable even at high magnetic field. When $s-$ and $d-$ condensates have a comparable strength, vortices split cores in two chiral components to form full-fledged skyrmions, i.e. coreless topological structures with an integer topological charge, organized in a lattice. We provide characteristic magnetic field distributions of all states, enabling their identification in e.g. scanning Hall probe and scanning SQUID experiments. These unique vortex states are relevant for high-T$_c$ cuprate and iron-based superconductors, where the relative strength of competing pairing symmetries is expected to be tuned by temperature and/or doping level, and can help distinguish $s+is$ and $s+id$ superconducting phases., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures

The autoregressive neural networks are emerging as a powerful computational tool to solve relevant problems in classical and quantum mechanics. One of their appealing functionalities is that, after they have learned a probability distribution from a dataset, they allow exact and efficient sampling of typical system configurations. Here we employ a neural autoregressive distribution estimator (NADE) to boost Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations of a paradigmatic classical model of spin-glass theory, namely the two-dimensional Edwards-Anderson Hamiltonian. We show that a NADE can be trained to accurately mimic the Boltzmann distribution using unsupervised learning from system configurations generated using standard MCMC algorithms. The trained NADE is then employed as smart proposal distribution for the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. This allows us to perform efficient MCMC simulations, which provide unbiased results even if the expectation value corresponding to the probability distribution learned by the NADE is not exact. Notably, we implement a sequential tempering procedure, whereby a NADE trained at a higher temperature is iteratively employed as proposal distribution in a MCMC simulation run at a slightly lower temperature. This allows one to efficiently simulate the spin-glass model even in the low-temperature regime, avoiding the divergent correlation times that plague MCMC simulations driven by local-update algorithms. Furthermore, we show that the NADE-driven simulations quickly sample ground-state configurations, paving the way to their future utilization to tackle binary optimization problems., Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures

When approaching the atomically thin limit, defects and disorder play an increasingly important role in the properties of two-dimensional materials. Superconductivity is generally thought to be vulnerable to these effects, but here we demonstrate the contrary in the case of oxygenation of ultrathin tantalum disulfide (TaS$_2$). Our first-principles calculations show that incorporation of oxygen into the TaS$_2$ crystal lattice is energetically favourable and effectively heals sulfur vacancies typically present in these crystals, thus restoring the carrier density to the intrinsic value of TaS$_2$. Strikingly, this leads to a strong enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling, by up to 80% in the highly-oxygenated limit. Using transport measurements on fresh and aged (oxygenated) few-layer TaS$_2$, we found a marked increase of the superconducting critical temperature ($T_{\mathrm{c}}$) upon aging, in agreement with our theory, while concurrent electron microscopy and electron-energy loss spectroscopy confirmed the presence of sulfur vacancies in freshly prepared TaS$_2$ and incorporation of oxygen into the crystal lattice with time. Our work thus reveals the mechanism by which certain atomic-scale defects can be beneficial to superconductivity and opens a new route to engineer $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ in ultrathin materials.

We analyze the paradigmatic competition between intra-band and cross-band Cooper-pair formation in two-band superconductors, neglected in most works to date. We derive the phase-sensitive gap equations and describe the crossover between the intraband-dominated and the crossband-dominated regimes, delimited by a ``gapless'' state. Experimental signatures of crosspairing comprise notable gap-splitting in the excitation spectrum, non-BCS behavior of gaps versus temperature, as well as changes in the pairing symmetry as a function of temperature. The consequences of these findings are illustrated on the examples of MgB$_2$ and Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$.

Structural and superconducting properties of high quality Niobium nanofilms with different thicknesses are investigated on silicon oxide and sapphire substrates. The role played by the different substrates and the superconducting properties of the Nb films are discussed based on the defectivity of the films and on the presence of an interfacial oxide layer between the Nb film and the substrate. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy is employed to uncover the structure of the interfacial layer. We show that this interfacial layer leads to a strong proximity effect, specially in films deposited on a SiO$_2$ substrate, altering the superconducting properties of the Nb films. Our results establish that the critical temperature is determined by an interplay between quantum-size effects, due to the reduction of the Nb film thicknesses, and proximity effects.

Extended defects are known to strongly affect nanoscale superconductors. Here we report the properties of superconducting nanoribbons with a constriction formed between two adjacent step-edges, by solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations self-consistently in the regime where quantum confinement is important. Since the quantum resonances of the superconducting gap in the constricted area are different from the rest of the nanoribbon, such constriction forms a quantum-confined S-S'-S Josephson junction, with a broadly tunable performance depending on the length and width of the constriction with respect to the nanoribbon, and possible gating. These findings provide an intriguing approach to further tailor superconducting quantum devices where Josephson effect is of use., Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures

We report the equilibrium vortex phase diagram of a rotating two-band Fermi gas confined to a cylindrically symmetric parabolic trapping potential, using the recently developed finite-temperature effective field theory [Phys. Rev. A $\bf{94}$, 023620 (2016)]. A non-monotonic resonant dependence of the free energy as a function of the temperature and the rotation frequency is revealed for a two-band superfluid. We particularly focus on novel features that appear as a result of interband interactions and can be experimentally resolved. The resonant dependence of the free energy is directly manifested in vortex phase diagrams, where areas of stability for both integer and fractional vortex states are found. The study embraces the BCS-BEC crossover regime and the entire temperature range below the critical temperature $T_{c}$. Significantly different behavior of vortex matter as a function of the interband coupling is revealed in the BCS and BEC regimes., Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures

Spin-triplet chiral p-wave superconductivity is typically described by a two-component order parameter, and as such is prone to unique emergent effects when compared to the standard single-component superconductors. Here we present the equilibrium phase diagram for small mesoscopic chiral p-wave superconducting disks in the presence of magnetic field, obtained by solving the microscopic Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations self-consistently. In the ultra-small limit, the cylindrically-symmetric giant-vortex states are the ground state of the system. However, with increasing sample size, the cylindrical symmetry is broken as the two components of the order parameter segregate into domains, and the number of fragmented domain walls between them characterizes the resulting states. Such domain walls are topological defects unique for the p-wave order, and constitute a dominant phase in the mesoscopic regime. Moreover, we find two possible types of domain walls, identified by their chirality-dependent interaction with the edge states.

Starting from first principles, we show the formation and evolution of superconducting gaps in MgB$_2$ at its ultrathin limit. Atomically thin MgB$_2$ is distinctly different from bulk MgB$_2$ in that surface states become comparable in electronic density to the bulk-like $\sigma$- and $\pi$-bands. Combining the ab initio electron-phonon coupling with the anisotropic Eliashberg equations, we show that monolayer MgB$_2$ develops three distinct superconducting gaps, on completely separate parts of the Fermi surface due to the emergent surface contribution. These gaps hybridize nontrivially with every extra monolayer added to the film, owing to the opening of additional coupling channels. Furthermore, we reveal that the three-gap superconductivity in monolayer MgB$_2$ is robust over the entire temperature range that stretches up to a considerably high critical temperature of 20 K. The latter can be boosted to $>$50 K under biaxial tensile strain of $\sim$ 4\%, which is an enhancement stronger than in any other graphene-related superconductor known to date., Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev

Recent experiments show that an atomic step on the surface of atomically thin metallic films can strongly affect electronic transport. Here we reveal multiple and versatile effects that such a surface step can have on superconductivity in ultrathin films. By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations self-consistently in this regime, where quantum confinement dominates the emergent physics, we show that the electronic structure is profoundly modified on the two sides of the step, as is the spatial distribution of the superconducting order parameter and its dependence on temperature and electronic gating. Furthermore, the surface step changes non-trivially the transport properties both in the proximity-induced superconducting order parameter and the Josephson effect, depending on the step height. These results offer a new route to tailor superconducting circuits and design atomically thin hetero-junctions made of one same material., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

Chiral $p$-wave superconductors in applied magnetic field can exhibit more complex topological defects than just conventional superconducting vortices, due to the two-component order parameter (OP) and the broken time-reversal symmetry. We investigate the electronic properties of those exotic states, some of which contain clusters of one-component vortices in chiral components of the OP and/or exhibit skyrmionic character in the \textit{relative} OP space, all obtained as a self-consistent solution of the microscopic Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. We reveal the link between the local density of states (LDOS) of the novel topological states and the behavior of the chiral domain wall between the OP components, enabling direct identification of those states in scanning tunneling microscopy. For example, a skyrmion always contains a closed chiral domain wall, which is found to be mapped exactly by zero-bias peaks in LDOS. Moreover, the LDOS exhibits electron-hole asymmetry, which is different from the LDOS of conventional vortex states with the same vorticity. Finally, we present the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the properties of a skyrmion, indicating that this topological defect can be surprisingly large in size, and can be pinned by an artificially indented non-superconducting closed path in the sample. These features are expected to facilitate the experimental observation of skyrmionic states, thereby enabling experimental verification of chirality in emerging superconducting materials.

In a mesoscopic sample of a chiral $p\,$-wave superconductor, novel states comprising skyrmions and edge states have been stabilized in out-of-plane applied magnetic field. Using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations we shed light on the dynamic response of such states to an external applied current. Three different regimes are obtained, namely, the superconducting (stationary), resistive (non-stationary) and normal regime, similarly to conventional $s$-wave superconductors. However, in the resistive regime and depending on the external current, we found that moving skyrmions and the edge state behave distinctly different from the conventional kinematic vortex, thereby providing new fingerprints for identification of $p\,$-wave superconductivity., Comment: Submitted to the proceedings of the Vortex IX conference - Rhodes

The electron detachment from the hydrogen negative ion in strong fields is studied using the two-electron and different single-electron models within the quasistatic approximation. A special attention is payed to over-the-barrier regime where the Stark saddle is suppressed below the lowest energy level. It is demonstrated that the single-electron description of the lowest state of ion, that is a good approximation for weak fields, fails in this and partially in the tunneling regime. The exact lowest state energies and detachment rates for the ion at different strengths of the applied field are determined by solving the eigenvalue problem of the full two-electron Hamiltonian. An accurate formula for the rate, that is valid in both regimes, is determined by fitting the exact data to the expression estimated using single-electron descriptions., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

In 1976 Larkin and Ovchinnikov [Sov. Phys. JETP 41, 960 (1976)] predicted that vortex matter in superconductors driven by an electrical current can undergo an abrupt dynamic transition from a flux-flow regime to a more dissipative state at sufficiently high vortex velocities. Typically this transition manifests itself as a large voltage jump at a particular current density, so-called instability current density $J^*$, which is smaller than the depairing current. By tuning the effective pinning strength in Al films, using an artificial periodic pinning array of triangular holes, we show that a unique and well defined instability current density exists if the pinning is strong, whereas a series of multiple voltage transitions appear in the relatively weaker pinning regime. This behavior is consistent with time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations, where the multiple-step transition can be unambiguously attributed to the progressive development of vortex chains and subsequently phase-slip lines. In addition, we explore experimentally the magnetic braking effects, caused by a thick Cu layer deposited on top of the superconductor, on the instabilities and the vortex ratchet effect

Vortices and vortex arrays have been used as a hallmark of superfluidity in rotated, ultracold Fermi gases. These superfluids can be described in terms of an effective field theory for a macroscopic wave function representing the field of condensed pairs, analogous to the Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductors. Here, we have established how rotation modifies this effective field theory, by rederiving it starting from the action of Fermi gas in the rotating frame of reference. The rotation leads to the appearance of an effective vector potential, and the coupling strength of this vector potential to the macroscopic wave function depends on the interaction strength between the fermions, due to a renormalization of the pair effective mass in the effective field theory. The mass renormalization derived here is in agreement with results of functional renormalization group theory. In the extreme BEC regime, the pair effective mass tends to twice the fermion mass, in agreement with the physical picture of a weakly interacting Bose gas of molecular pairs. Then, we use our macroscopic wave function description to study vortices and the critical rotation frequencies to form them. Equilibrium vortex state diagrams are derived, and they are in good agreement with available results of the Bogoliubov - De Gennes theory and with experimental data., Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. A (2016)

We investigate the superconducting states that arise as a consequence of mesoscopic confinement and a multi-component order parameter in the Ginzburg-Landau model for $p\,$-wave superconductivity. Conventional vortices, but also half-quantum vortices and skyrmions are found as the applied magnetic field and the anisotropy parameters of the Fermi surface are varied. The solutions are well differentiated by a topological charge that for skyrmions is given by the Hopf invariant and for vortices by the circulation of the superconducting velocity. We revealed several unique states combining vortices and skyrmions, their possible reconfiguration with varied magnetic field, as well as the novel temporal and field-induced transitions between vortical and skyrmionic states., Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures

Superconductors, ideally diamagnetic when in the Meissner state, can also exhibit paramagnetic behavior due to trapped magnetic flux. In the absence of pinning such paramagnetic response is weak, and ceases with increasing sample thickness. Here we show that in multiband superconductors paramagnetic response can be observed even in slab geometries, and can be far larger than any previous estimate - even multiply larger than the diamagnetic Meissner response for the same applied magnetic field. We link the appearance of this giant paramagnetic response to the broad crossover between conventional Type-I and Type-II superconductors, where Abrikosov vortices interact non-monotonically and multibody effects become important, causing unique flux configurations and their locking in the presence of surfaces., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We numerically study the vortex-vortex interaction in multi-component homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensates within the realm of the Gross-Pitaevskii theory. We provide strong evidences that pairwise vortex interaction captures the underlying mechanisms which determine the geometric configuration of the vortices, such as different lattices in many-vortex states, as well as the bound vortex states with two (dimer) or three (trimer) vortices. Specifically, we discuss and apply our theoretical approach to investigate intra- and inter-component vortex-vortex interactions in two- and three-component Bose-Einstein condensates, thereby shedding light on the formation of the exotic vortex configurations. These results correlate with current experimental efforts in multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates, and the understanding of the role of vortex interactions in multiband superconductors., Comment: Published in PRA

Vortices carrying fractions of a flux quantum are predicted to exist in multiband superconductors, where vortex core can split between multiple band-specific components of the superconducting condensate. Using the two-component Ginzburg-Landau model, we examine such vortex configurations in a two-band superconducting slab in parallel magnetic field. The fractional vortices appear due to the band-selective vortex penetration caused by different thresholds for vortex entry within each band-condensate, and stabilize near the edges of the sample. We show that the resulting fractional vortex configurations leave distinct fingerprints in the static measurements of the magnetization, as well as in ac dynamic measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, both of which can be readily used for the detection of these fascinating vortex states in several existing multiband superconductors., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Bogomolnyi critical point, originally introduced in string theories, is fundamental to superconductivity. At the critical temperature T_c it marks the sharp border between ideally diamagnetic bulk type-I superconductors and type-II ones that can host vortices, while itself it harbors infinitely degenerate distributions of magnetic flux in the superconducting state. Here we show that below T_c the physics of the Bogomolnyi critical point projects onto a wider range of microscopic parameters, even extremely wide for multiband superconductors. In this critical range, the degeneracy of the superconducting state at Tc is lifted into a sequence of novel topological equilibria and the customary understanding of superconducting phenomena does not suffice. As a radical departure from traditional views, we introduce the paradigm of critical superconductors, discuss their distinct magnetic properties, advocate their subdivision in terms of possible intermediate states, and demonstrate direct relevance of this paradigm to superconducting materials of prime interest today., Comment: submitted to PRL

Magnetic flux patterns are known to strongly differ in the intermediate state of type-I and type-II superconductors. Using a type-I/type-II bilayer we demonstrate hybridization of these flux phases into a plethora of unique new ones. Owing to a complicated multi-body interaction between individual fluxoids, many different intriguing patterns are possible under applied magnetic field, such as few-vortex clusters, vortex chains, mazes or labyrinthal structures resembling the phenomena readily encountered in soft matter physics. However, in our system the patterns are tunable by sample parameters, magnetic field, current and temperature, which reveals transitions from short-range clustering to long-range ordered phases such as parallel chains, gels, glasses and crystalline vortex lattices, or phases where lamellar type-I flux domains in one layer serve as a bedding potential for type-II vortices in the other - configurations clearly beyond the soft-matter analogy.

The stable and unstable solutions of a square 2D extreme type-II superconductor are studied in the field of a magnetic disc. We use a preconditioned Newton-Krylov solver to find the solutions and use numerical continuation to track the solutions as the field strength varies. For a disc with a small radius, we have identified generic scenarios through which the state loses and regains its stability.

A procedure to derive the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory from the multiband BCS Hamiltonian is developed in a general case with an arbitrary number of bands and arbitrary interaction matrix. It combines the standard Gor'kov truncation and a subsequent reconstruction in order to match accuracies of the obtained terms. This reconstruction recovers the phenomenological GL theory as obtained from the Landau model of phase transitions but offers explicit microscopic expressions for the relevant parameters. Detailed calculations are presented for a three-band system treated as a prototype multiband superconductor. It is demonstrated that the symmetry in the coupling matrix may lead to the chiral ground state with the phase frustration, typical for systems with broken time-reversal symmetry., Comment: 9 pages