Probing the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless vortex unbinding transition in two-dimensional superconductors using local noise magnetometry

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Hauptverfasser: Curtis, Jonathan B., Maksimovic, Nikola, Poniatowski, Nicholas R., Yacoby, Amir, Halperin, Bertrand, Narang, Prineha, Demler, Eugene
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Curtis, Jonathan B.
Maksimovic, Nikola
Poniatowski, Nicholas R.
Yacoby, Amir
Halperin, Bertrand
Narang, Prineha
Demler, Eugene
author_facet Curtis, Jonathan B.
Maksimovic, Nikola
Poniatowski, Nicholas R.
Yacoby, Amir
Halperin, Bertrand
Narang, Prineha
Demler, Eugene
contents The melting of quasi-long-range superconductivity in two spatial dimensions occurs through the proliferation and unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs -- a phenomenon known as the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. Although signatures of this transition have been observed in bulk measurements, these experiments are often complicated, ambiguous, and unable to resolve the rich physics of the vortex unbinding transition. Here we show that local noise magnetometry is a sensitive, noninvasive probe that can provide direct information about the scale-dependent vortex dynamics. In particular, by resolving the distance and temperature dependence of the magnetic noise, it may be possible to experimentally study the renormalization group flow equations of the vortex gas and track the onset of vortex unbinding in situ. Specifically, we predict i) a nonmonotonic dependence of the noise on temperature and ii) the local noise is almost independent of the sample-probe distance at the BKT transition. We also show that noise magnetometry can distinguish Gaussian superconducting order-parameter fluctuations from topological vortex fluctuations and can detect the emergence of unbound vortices. The weak distance dependence at the BKT transition can also be used to distinguish it from quasiparticle background noise. Our predictions may be within experimental reach for a number of unconventional superconductors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_06147
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless vortex unbinding transition in two-dimensional superconductors using local noise magnetometry
Curtis, Jonathan B.
Maksimovic, Nikola
Poniatowski, Nicholas R.
Yacoby, Amir
Halperin, Bertrand
Narang, Prineha
Demler, Eugene
Superconductivity
The melting of quasi-long-range superconductivity in two spatial dimensions occurs through the proliferation and unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs -- a phenomenon known as the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. Although signatures of this transition have been observed in bulk measurements, these experiments are often complicated, ambiguous, and unable to resolve the rich physics of the vortex unbinding transition. Here we show that local noise magnetometry is a sensitive, noninvasive probe that can provide direct information about the scale-dependent vortex dynamics. In particular, by resolving the distance and temperature dependence of the magnetic noise, it may be possible to experimentally study the renormalization group flow equations of the vortex gas and track the onset of vortex unbinding in situ. Specifically, we predict i) a nonmonotonic dependence of the noise on temperature and ii) the local noise is almost independent of the sample-probe distance at the BKT transition. We also show that noise magnetometry can distinguish Gaussian superconducting order-parameter fluctuations from topological vortex fluctuations and can detect the emergence of unbound vortices. The weak distance dependence at the BKT transition can also be used to distinguish it from quasiparticle background noise. Our predictions may be within experimental reach for a number of unconventional superconductors.
title Probing the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless vortex unbinding transition in two-dimensional superconductors using local noise magnetometry
topic Superconductivity
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.06147