The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is expected to have a clear signature on the specific heat. The singularity at the transition temperature $T_{BKT}$ is predicted to be immeasurable, and a broad non-universal peak is expected at $T>T_{BKT}$. Up to date this has not been observed in two-dimensional superconductors. We use a unique highly sensitive technique to measure the specific heat of ultrathin Pb films. We find that thick films exhibit a specific heat jump at $T_C$ that is consistent with BCS theory. As the film thickness is reduced below the superconducting coherence length and the systems enters the 2D limit the specific heat reveals BKT-like behavior. We discuss these observations in the framework of the continuous BCS-BKT crossover as a function of film thickness.
A low-frequency resistance noise study in highly underdoped thick films of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ ($x=0.07$ and 0.08) reveals slow, correlated dynamics and breaking of ergodicity near the superconducting transition of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The observed correlated behavior is strongly suppressed by disorder.
The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in two-dimensional superconductors is usually expected to be protected against disorder. However, its typical signatures in real system, like e.g. the superfluid-density jump, are often at odd with this expectation. Here we show that the disorder-induced granularity of the superconducting state modifies the nucleation mechanism for vortex-antivortex pairs. This leads to a considerable smearing of the universal superfluid-density jump as compared to the paradigmatic clean case, in agreement with experimental observations.
We discuss the evolution from BCS to Bose superconductivity versus carrier density in gated two-dimensional s-wave superconductors. We show that the transition from the normal to the superconducting state is controlled by the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless vortex-antivortex pairing mechanism, and that the evolution from high carrier density (BCS pairing) to low carrier density (Bose pairing) is just a crossover in s-wave systems. We compare our results to recent experiments on the superconductor LixZrNCl, a lithium intercalated layered nitride, and obtain very good quantitative agreement at l…
We probe the presence of long-range correlations in phase fluctuations by analyzing the higher-order spectrum of resistance fluctuations in ultra-thin NbN superconducting films. The non-Gaussian component of resistance fluctuations is found to be sensitive to film thickness close to the transition, which allows us to distinguish between mean field and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) type superconducting transitions. The extent of non-Gaussianity was found to be bounded by the BKT and mean field transition temperatures and depend strongly on the roughness and structural inhomogeneity of t…
The occurrence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is investigated in heavily boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond films through a combination of current-voltage and resistance measurements. We observe a robust BKT transition in the nanocrystalline diamond films with smaller grain size along with transport features related to vortex pinning. The vortex core energy determined through analysis of the resistance temperature curves was found to be anti-correlated to the BKT transition temperatures. It is also observed that the higher BKT temperature is related to an increased vo…
One of the hallmarks of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in two-dimensional (2D) superconductors is the universal jump of the superfluid density, that can be indirectly probed via the non-linear exponent of the current-voltage $IV$ characteristics. Here, we compare the experimental measurements of $IV$ characteristics in two cases, namely NbN thin films and SrTiO$_3$-based interfaces. While the former display a paradigmatic example of BKT-like non-linear effects, the latter do not seem to justify a BKT analysis. Rather, the observed $IV$ characteristics can be well reproduc…
The precondition for the BKT transition in thin superconducting films, the logarithmic intervortex interaction, is satisfied at distances short relative to $Λ=2λ^2/d$, $λ$ is the London penetration depth of the bulk material and $d$ is the film thickness. For this reason, the search for the transition has been conducted in samples of the size $L<Λ$. It is argued below that film edges turn the interaction into near exponential (short-range) thus making the BKT transition impossible. If however the substrate is superconducting and separated from the film by an insulated layer, the logarithmic in…
We obtain the superfluid weight and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature for highly unconventional superconducting states with the coexistence of chiral d-wave superconductivity, charge density waves and pair density waves in the strained graphene. Our results show that the strain-induced flat bands can promote the superconducting transition temperature approximately $50\%$ compared to that of the original doped graphene, which suggests that the flat-band superconductivity is a potential route to get superconductivity with higher critical temperatures. In particular, we…
We show that the size effects radically affect the electric field-current ($E-I$) relation of superconducting films. We calculate $E(J)$ due to thermally-activated hopping of single vortices driven by current $I$ across the film in a magnetic field $H$, taking into account interaction of free vortices with their antivortex images and peaks in the Meissner currents at the film edges. Unbinding of virtual vortex-antivortex pairs not only mimics the transport uniform BKT behavior, it can dominate the observed $E(J)$ and result in the field-dependent ohmic resistance at small $I$. We show that $E(…
We study the flux noise in Josephson junction arrays in the critical regime above the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. In proximity coupled arrays a local ohmic damping for the phases is relevant, giving rise to anomalous vortex diffusion and a dynamic scaling of the flux noise in the critical region. It shows a crossover from white to $1/f$-noise at a frequency $ω_ξ\proptoξ^{-z}$ with a dynamic exponent $z=2$.
We analyze numerically how the voltage-current (V-I) characteristics near the so-called Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition of 2D superconductors are affected by a random spatial Gaussian distribution of critical temperature inhomogeneities with long characteristic lengths (much larger than the in-plane superconducting coherence length amplitude). Our simulations allow to quantify the broadening around the average BKT transition temperature of both the exponent alpha in V I^alpha and of the resistance V/I. These calculations reveal that strong spatial redistributions of the local …
We study the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of two-dimensional Bose gases in a synthetic magnetic field using the standard Metropolis Monte Carlo method. The system is described by the frustrated XY model and the critical temperature is calculated though the absence of central peak of the wave function in momentum space, which can be directly measured by the time-of-flight absorbing imaging in cold atoms experiments. The results of our work show agreement with former studies on superconducting Josephson arrays.
Superconducting hybrid junctions are revealing a variety of novel effects. Some of them are due to the special layout of these devices, which often use a coplanar configuration with relatively large barrier channels and the possibility of hosting Pearl vortices. A Josephson junction with a quasi ideal two-dimensional barrier has been realized by growing graphene on SiC with Al electrodes. Chemical Vapor Deposition offers centimeter size monolayer areas where it is possible to realize a comparative analysis of different devices with nominally the same barrier. In samples with a graphene gap bel…
We study the superfluid transition in a quasi-two-dimensional Fermi gas with a magnetic field tuning through a Feshbach resonance. Using an effective two-dimensional Hamiltonian with renormalized interaction between atoms and dressed molecules, we investigate the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature by studying the phase fluctuation effect. We also take into account the trapping potential in the radial plane, and discuss the number and superfluid density distributions. These results can be compared to experimental outcomes for gases prepared in one-dimensional optical lattice…
A half-century after the discovery of the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT), one of the fundamental predictions of the theory, the charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition that is expected to occur at the insulating side of the SIT, has remained unobserved. The charge BKT transition is a phenomenon dual to the vortex BKT transition, which is at the heart of the very existence of two-dimensional superconductivity as a zero-resistance state appearing at finite temperatures. The dual picture points to the possibility of the existence of a superinsulating state endowed with …
The nature of the superconducting transition in highly underdoped thick films of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ ($x=0.07$ and 0.08) has been investigated using the in-plane transport measurements. The contribution of superconducting fluctuations to the conductivity in zero magnetic field, or paraconductivity, was determined from the magnetoresistance measured in fields applied perpendicular to the CuO$_2$ planes. Both the temperature dependence of the paraconductivity above the transition and the nonlinear current-voltage ($I-V$) characteristics measured across it, exhibit the main signatures of the …
We theoretically investigate superfluidity in a strongly interacting Fermi gas confined to two dimensions at finite temperature. Using a Gaussian pair fluctuation theory in the superfluid phase, we calculate the superfluid density and determine the critical temperature and chemical potential at the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We propose that the transition can be unambiguously demonstrated in cold-atom experiments by stirring the superfluid Fermi gas using a red detuned laser beam, to identify the characteristic jump in the local Landau critical velocity at the superfluid-norma…
We study superconductivity of twisted bilayer graphene with local and non-local attractive interactions. We obtain the superfluid weight and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature for microscopic tight-binding and low-energy continuum models. We predict qualitative differences between local and non-local interaction schemes which could be distinguished experimentally. In the flat band limit where the pair potential exceeds the band width we show that the superfluid weight and BKT temperature are determined by multiband processes and quantum geometry of the band.
A numerical study of the neutral two-dimensional (2D) lattice Coulomb gas is performed to examine dynamic scaling, finite size effects, and the dynamic critical exponent $z$ of the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition. By studying large system sizes ($L=100$), we show $z=2.0 \pm0.2$ using Fisher-Fisher-Huse (FFH) scaling. We also present evidence that the vortex correlation length is finite below the transition temperature, in contrast to conventional wisdom. Finally, we conclude that previous findings for a variety of experimental systems that $z\simeq 5.6$ using FFH scaling indicates t…
We obtain nonperturbative results on the sine-Gordon model using the lattice field technique. In particular, we employ the Fourier accelerated hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm for our studies. We find the critical temperature of the theory based autocorrelation time, as well as the finite size scaling of the "thickness" observable used in an earlier lattice study by Hasenbusch et al.
Giant amplification of Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature in superconducting systems characterized by cooperative interplay of small-gapped valence and conduction bands
Occurrence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is investigated by superfluid density measurements for two-dimensional (2D) disordered NbN films with disorder level very close to a superconductor-insulator transition (SIT). Our data show a robust BKT transition even near this 2D disorder-tuned quantum critical point (QCP). This observation is in direct contrast with previous data on deeply underdoped quasi-2D cuprates near the SIT. As our NbN films approach the QCP, the vortex-core energy, an important energy scale in the BKT transition, scales with the superconducting gap, …
We propose an explanation of the superconducting transitions discovered in the heavy fermion superlattices by Mizukami et al. (Nature Physics 7, 849 (2011)) in terms of Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. We observe that the effective mass mismatch between the heavy fermion superconductor and the normal metal regions provides an effective barrier that enables quasi 2D superconductivity in such systems. We show that the resistivity data, both with and without magnetic field, are consistent with BKT transition. Furthermore, we study the influence of a nearby magnetic quantum critical poi…
High-$T_c$ Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in 2D superconducting systems with coupled deep and quasi-flat electronic bands with van Hove singularities
Assuming that two-component Fermi gases with opposite artificial magnetic fields on a square optical lattice are well-described by the so-called time-reversal-symmetric Hofstadter-Hubbard model, we explore the thermal superfluid properties along with the critical Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature in this model over a wide-range of its parameters. In particular, since our self-consistent BCS-BKT approach takes the multi-band butterfly spectrum explicitly into account, it unveils how dramatically the inter-band contribution to the phase stiffness dominates the intra-ba…
We study the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition of two-component Bose mixtures in two spatial dimensions. When phases of both components are decoupled, half-quantized vortex-antivortex pairs of each component induce two-step BKT transitions. On the other hand, when phases of the both components are synchronized through the inter-component Josephson coupling, two species of vortices of each component are bind to form a molecule, and in this case, we find that there is only one BKT transition by molecule-antimolecule pairs. Our results can be tested by two weakly-connected Bose sys…
Directional-dependent Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at EuO/KTaO$_3$(111) interfaces
University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学微尺度物质科学国家研究中心）；Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学合肥国家实验室）
We study the superfluid properties of two-dimensional spin-population-imbalanced Fermi gases to explore the interplay between the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition and the possible instability towards the Fulde-Ferrell (FF) state. By the mean-field approximation together with quantum fluctuations, we obtain phase diagrams as functions of temperature, chemical potential imbalance and binding energy. We find that the fluctuations change the mean-field phase diagram significantly. We also address possible effects of the phase separation and/or the anisotropic FF phase to the …
We perform a detailed finite-size scaling analysis of the sheet resistance in Bi-films and the LaAlO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$ interface in the presence and absence of a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the system. Our main aim is to explore the occurrence of Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) and quantum phase transition behavior in the presence of limited size, stemming from the finite extent of the homogeneous domains or the magnetic field. Moreover we explore the implications thereof. Above an extrapolated BKT transition temperature, modulated by the thickness $d$, gate voltage $%V_{g}$ …
We study superconductivity in the hadron-quark mixed phase of planar quantum chromodynamics (QCD) within the large $N$ limit of a Gross-Neveu model modified by a repulsive vector term. At high densities, the combination of scalar attraction and repulsive space-like part of the vector interaction squeezes quarks into baryonic composite states, i.e., Dirac fermions with even numbers of bosonic vortices attached. The time-like vector component induces Cooper pairing between these Fermi surface modes. Remarkably, at zero temperature, competition between the quark density and mass destroys supercon…
Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless quantum transition in 2 dimensions
NiPS Laboratory, INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, University of Perugia（佩鲁贾大学物理与地质学系、INFN及NiPS实验室）；SwissScientific Technologies SA（瑞士科学技术有限公司）；Division of Science, New York University Abu Dhabi（阿布扎比纽约大学科学学部）
The effects of microwave radiation on the transport properties of atomically thin $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ films were studied in the 0.1-13 GHz frequency range. Resistance changes induced by microwaves were investigated at different temperatures near the superconducting transition. The nonlinear response decreases by several orders of magnitude within a few GHz of a cutoff frequency $ν_{cut} \approx$ 2 GHz. Numerical simulations that assume an ac response to follow the dc V-I characteristics of the films reproduce well the low frequency behavior, but fail above $ν_{cut}$. The results indicate that …
We discuss the d=2 quantum O(2)xO(2) nonlinear sigma model as a low-energy theory of phase reconstruction near a quantum critical point. We first examine the evolution of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition as the quantum limit is approached in the usual O(2) nonlinear sigma model. Then we go on to review results on the ground-state phase diagram of the O(2)xO(2) nonlinear sigma model, and on the behaviour of the O(2)xO(M) nonlinear sigma model with M>2 in the classical limit. Finally, we present a conjectured finite-temperature phase diagram for the quantum version of the lat…
The conflicting observations in the highly anisotropic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x, vidence for BKT behavior emerging from magnetization data and smeared 3D-xy behavior, stemming form the temperature dependence of the magnetic in-plane penetration depth are traced back to the rather small ratio, gsic+/gsic-=0.45, between the c-axis correlation length probed above (+) and below (-) Tc, and the comparatively large anisotropy. The latter leads to critical amplitudes gsic0+,-which are substantially smaller than the distance between two CuO2 double layers. In combination with gsic+/gsic-=0.45 and in contrast t…
In tensor network representation, the partition function of a generalized two-dimensional XY spin model with topological integer and half-integer vortex excitations is mapped to a tensor product of one-dimensional quantum transfer operator, whose eigen-equation can be solved by an algorithm of variational uniform matrix product states. Using the singularities of the entanglement entropy, we accurately determine the complete phase diagram of this model. Both the integer vortex-antivortex binding and half-integer vortex-antivortex binding phases are separated from the disordered phase by the usu…
In the search of high-temperature superconductivity one option is to focus on increasing the density of electronic states. Here we study both the normal and $s$-wave superconducting state properties of periodically strained graphene, which exhibits approximate flat bands with a high density of states, with the flatness tunable by the strain profile. We generalize earlier results regarding a one-dimensional harmonic strain to arbitrary periodic strain fields, and further extend the results by calculating the superfluid weight and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition temperature …
We theoretically investigate the superfluid density and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition of a two-dimensional Rashba spin-orbit coupled atomic Fermi gas with both in-plane and out-of-plane Zeeman fields. It was recently predicted that, by tuning the two Zeeman fields, the system may exhibit different exotic Fulde-Ferrell (FF) superfluid phases, including the gapped FF, gapless FF, gapless topological FF and gapped topological FF states. Due to the FF paring, we show that the superfluid density (tensor) of the system becomes anisotropic. When an in-plane Zeeman field is applied …
We analyze the interplay of longitudinal and transverse fluctuations in a $U(1)$ symmetric two-dimensional $ϕ^4$-theory. To this end, we derive coupled renormalization group equations for both types of fluctuations obtained from a linear (cartesian) decomposition of the order parameter field. Discarding the longitudinal fluctuations, the expected Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase characterized by a finite stiffness and an algebraic decay of order parameter correlations is recovered. Renormalized by transverse fluctuations, the longitudinal mass scales to zero, so that longitudinal fl…
Quantum Brownian Motion: proving that the Schmid transition belongs to the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class
Università di Napoli Federico II（那不勒斯费德里科二世大学）；INFN, Sezione di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；SPIN-CNR（凝聚态物理特殊相互作用中心（CNR））；The Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)（阿卜杜斯·萨拉姆理论物理国际中心）；RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS)（理化学研究所新兴物质科学中心）；Fundamental Quantum Science Program (FQSP), TRIP Headquarters, RIKEN（理化学研究所基础量子科学项目（FQSP），TRIP总部）
