1212.4095 (K. Aoyama et al.)

Inhomogeneous superconducting state in mesoscopic thin-walled cylinders    [PDF]

K. Aoyama, R. Beaird, D. E. Sheehy, I. Vekhter

We theoretically investigate the appearance of spatially modulated superconducting states in mesoscopic superconducting thin-wall cylinders in a magnetic field at low temperatures. Quantization of the electron motion around the circumference of the cylinder leads to a discontinuous evolution of the spatial modulation of the superconducting order parameter along the transition line T_c(H). We show that this discontinuity leads to the non-monotonic behavior of the specific heat jump at the onset of superconductivity as a function of temperature and field. We argue that this geometry provides an excellent opportunity to directly and unambiguosly detect distinctive signatures of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov modulation of the superconducting order.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.4095