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Title: Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states and quantum oscillations in mesoscopic superconductors and superfluid ultracold Fermi gases

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Institute for Physics of Microstructures, Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, GSP-105 (Russian Federation)
  2. Institut Universitaire de France and Universite Bordeaux, CPMOH, UMR 5798, 33405, Talence (France)

We have studied the distinctive features of the Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) instability and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) mesoscopic superconductors placed in magnetic field of arbitrary orientation and rotating superfluid Fermi gases with imbalanced state populations. Using a generalized version of the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory we have shown that the FFLO states are strongly modified by the effect of the trapping potential confining the condensate. The phenomenon of the inhomogeneous state formation is determined by the interplay of three length scales: (i) length scale of the FFLO instability; (ii) 2D system size; (iii) length scale associated with the orbital effect caused either by the Fermi condensate rotation or magnetic field component applied perpendicular to the superconducting disk. We have studied this interplay and resulting quantum oscillation effects in both superconducting and superfluid finite-size systems with FFLO instability and described the hallmarks of the FFLO phenomenon in a restricted geometry. The finite size of the system is shown to affect strongly the conditions of the observability of switching between the states with different vorticities.

OSTI ID:
21502872
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 17; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.82.174514; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1098-0121
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English