English

Nodal topological superconductivity in nodal-line semimetals

Superconductivity 2023-12-08 v2 Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

We analyze possible nodal superconducting phases that emerge from a doped nodal-line semimetal. We show that nodal-line superconducting phases are favored by interactions mediated by short-range ferromagnetic fluctuations or Hund's coupling. It is found that the leading pairing channels are momentum-independent, orbital-singlet and spin-triplet. In the pairing state, we show that the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) Hamiltonian hosts a pair of topologically protected nodal rings on the equators of the torus Fermi surface (FS). Using a topological classification for gapless systems with inversion symmetry, we find that these nodal rings are topologically nontrivial and protected by integer-valued monopole charges ν=±2\nu = \pm 2. In the scenario of pairing driven by ferromagnetic fluctuations, we analyze the fate of superconductivity in the magnetically ordered phase. Based on Ginzburg-Landau free energy analysis, we find the energetically favored superconducting state is characterized by the coexistence of two pairing orders whose d\bf d-vectors are perpendicular to the magnetization axis M\bf M with their phases unfixed. In this case, each nodal loop in the pairing state splits into two, carrying a ±1\pm 1 monopole charge. For bulk-boundary correspondence, these nodal rings enclose flat-band Majorana zero modes on top and bottom surface Brillouin Zones with distinct Z\mathbb{Z}-valued topological invariants.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2309.03285,
  title  = {Nodal topological superconductivity in nodal-line semimetals},
  author = {Zhenfei Wu and Yuxuan Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2309.03285},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

16 pages, 10 figures