Two-band superconductors: Hidden criticality deep in the superconducting state

Abstract

We show that two-band superconductors harbor hidden criticality deep in the superconducting state, stemming from the critical temperature of the weaker band taken as an independent system. For sufficiently small interband coupling $γ$ the coherence length of the weaker band exhibits a remarkable deviation from the conventional monotonic increase with temperature, namely, a pronounced peak close to the hidden critical point. The magnitude of the peak scales proportionally to γ^(-μ), with the Landau critical exponent μ= 1/3, the same as found for the mean-field critical behavior with respect to the source field in ferromagnets and ferroelectrics. Here reported hidden criticality of multi-band superconductors can be experimentally observed by, e.g., imaging of the variations of the vortex core in a broader temperature range. Similar effects are expected for the superconducting multilayers.

6 pages, 2 figures, Supplementary material included. Accepted for publication in PRL