arXiv:0810.5168 · Physical Review B
Quantum Monte Carlo study of a magnetic-field-driven two-dimensional superconductor-insulator transition
Kwangmoo Kim, D. Stroud
Abstract
We numerically study the superconductor-insulator phase transition in a model disordered two-dimensional (2D) superconductor as a function of applied magnetic field. The calculation involves quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the $(2+1)\text{D}$ $XY$ model in the presence of both disorder and magnetic field. The $XY$ coupling is assumed to have the form $\ensuremath{-}J\text{ }\text{cos}({\ensuremath{\theta}}_{i}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{j}\ensuremath{-}{A}_{ij})$, where ${A}_{ij}$ has a mean of zero and a standard deviation $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$. In a real system, such a model would be approximately realized by a 2D array of small Josephson-coupled grains with slight spatial disorder and a uniform applied magnetic field. The different values $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$ then correspond to an applied field such that the average number of flux quanta per plaquette has various integer values $N$: larger $N$ corresponds to larger $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$. For any value of $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$, there appears to be a critical coupling constant ${K}_{c}(\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij})=\sqrt{{[J/(2U)]}_{c}}$, where $U$ is the charging energy, below which the system is a Mott insulator; there is also a corresponding critical conductivity ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}(\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij})$ at the transition. For $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}=\ensuremath{\infty}$, the order parameter of the transition is a renormalized coupling constant $g$. Using a numerical technique appropriate for disordered systems, we show that the transition at this value of $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$ takes place from an insulating (I) phase to a Bose glass (BG) phase, and that the dynamical critical exponent characterizing this transition is $z\ensuremath{\sim}1.3$. By contrast, $z=1$ for this model at $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}=0$. We suggest that the superconductor-to-insulator transition is actually of this I to BG class at all nonzero $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$'s, and we support this interpretation by both numerical evidence and an analytical argument based on the Harris criterion [A. B. Harris, J. Phys. C 7, 1671 (1974)]. ${K}_{c}$ is found to be a monotonically increasing function of $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$. For certain values of $K$, a disordered Josephson array may undergo a transition from an ordered, Bose glass phase to an insulator with increasing $\ensuremath{\Delta}{A}_{ij}$.