The properties of a two-dimensional low density (n<<1) electron system with strong onsite Hubbard attraction U>W (W is the bandwidth) in the presence of a strong random potential V uniformly distributed in the range from -V to +V are considered. Electronic hoppings only at neighboring sites on the square lattice are taken into account, thus W=8t. The calculations were carried out for a lattice of 24x24 sites with periodic boundary conditions. In the framework of the Bogoliubov - de Gennes approach we observed an appearance of inhomogeneous state of spatially separated Fermi-Bose mixture of Cooper pairs and unpaired electrons with the formation of bosonic droplets of different size in the unpaired fermionic matrix. We observed an increase in the droplet size (from individual bielectronic pairs to larger droplets and finally to the percolation cluster) when we increase the electron density at fixed values of the Hubbard attraction and random potential.
The studies of a number of systems treated in terms of an inhomogeneous (spatially separated) Fermi–Bose mixture with superconducting clusters or droplets of the order parameter in a host medium with unpaired normal states are reviewed. A spatially separated Fermi–Bose mixture is relevant to superconducting Ba-KBiO3 bismuth oxides. Droplets of the order parameter can occur in thin films of a dirty metal, described in the framework of the strongly attractive two-dimensional Hubbard model at a low electron density with a clearly pronounced diagonal disorder. The Bose–Einstein condensate droplets are formed in mixtures and dipole gases with an imbalance in the densities of the Fermi and Bose components. The Bose–Einstein condensate clusters also arise at the center or at the periphery of a magnetic trap involving spin-polarized Fermi gases. Exciton and plasmon collapsing droplets can emerge in the presence of the exciton–exciton or plasmon–plasmon interaction. The plasmon contribution to the charge screening in MgB2 leads to the formation of spatially modulated inhomogeneous structures. In metallic hydrogen and metal hydrides, droplets can be formed in shock-wave experiments at the boundary of the first-order phase transition between the metallic and molecular phases. In a spatially separated Fermi–Bose mixture arising in an Aharonov–Bohm interference ring with a superconducting bridge in a topologically nontrivial state, additional Fano resonances may appear and collapse due to the presence of edge Majorana modes in the system.
The studies of a number of systems treated in terms of an inhomogeneous (spatially separated) Fermi–Bose mixture with superconducting clusters or droplets of the order parameter in a host medium with unpaired normal states are reviewed. A spatially separated Fermi–Bose mixture is relevant to superconducting Ba-KBiO3 bismuth oxides. Droplets of the order parameter can occur in thin films of a dirty metal, described in the framework of the strongly attractive two-dimensional Hubbard model at a low electron density with a clearly pronounced diagonal disorder. The Bose–Einstein condensate droplets are formed in mixtures and dipole gases with an imbalance in the densities of the Fermi and Bose components. The Bose–Einstein condensate clusters also arise at the center or at the periphery of a magnetic trap involving spin-polarized Fermi gases. Exciton and plasmon collapsing droplets can emerge in the presence of the exciton–exciton or plasmon–plasmon interaction. The plasmon contribution to the charge screening in MgB2 leads to the formation of spatially modulated inhomogeneous structures. In metallic hydrogen and metal hydrides, droplets can be formed in shock-wave experiments at the boundary of the first-order phase transition between the metallic and molecular phases. In a spatially separated Fermi–Bose mixture arising in an Aharonov–Bohm interference ring with a superconducting bridge in a topologically nontrivial state, additional Fano resonances may appear and collapse due to the presence of edge Majorana modes in the system.
We study
s-wave superconductivity in the two-dimensional square-lattice attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian for various inhomogeneous patterns of interacting sites. Using the Bogoliubov--de Gennes mean-field approximation, we obtain the phase diagram for inhomogeneous patterns in which the on-site attractive interaction
Ui between the electrons takes on two values
Ui=0 and $\ensuremath{-}U∕(1\ensuremath{-}f)$ (with
f the concentration of noninteracting sites) as a function of average electron occupation per site,
n, and study the evolution of the phase diagram as
f varies. In certain regions of the phase diagram, inhomogeneity results in a larger zero-temperature average pairing amplitude (order parameter) and also a higher superconducting critical temperature
Tc, relative to a uniform system with the same mean interaction strength (${U}_{i}=\ensuremath{-}U$ on all sites). These effects are observed for stripes, checkerboard, and even random patterns of the attractive centers, suggesting that the pattern of inhomogeneity is unimportant. The phase diagrams also include regions where superconductivity is obliterated due to the formation of various charge-ordered phases. The enhancement of
Tc due to inhomogeneity is robust as long as the electron doping per site,
n, is less than twice the fraction of interacting sites $[2(1\ensuremath{-}f)]$ regardless of the pattern. We also show that for certain inhomogeneous patterns, when $n=2(1\ensuremath{-}f)$, increasing temperature can work against the stability of existing charge-ordered phases for large
f and, as a result, enhance
Tc.
The role of random onsite and hopping disorder in inducing a Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superconductor to Bose–Einstein condensate (BCS–BEC) crossover is investigated using the Bogoliubov–de Gennes (BdG) method on a negative- U Hubbard model in two dimensions. In the strong disorder limit, the BdG state becomes highly inhomogeneous with the formation of superconducting ' droplets ' which are characterized by large pairing amplitudes. The different physical properties calculated for the inhomogeneous state differ significantly from the pure system at all values of electron densities, while we show that a crossover to a BEC state, if at all, is possible at low electron densities. The random onsite disorder supports such a crossover scenario, which is confirmed by observing the chemical potential to slip below the noninteracting band (Leggett criterion). The hopping disorder, however, renders a delocalized phase which allows for overlapping between the pairs, thus preventing the formation of a 'local pair' phase. Also the increase in bandwidth induced by hopping disorder always accommodates the chemical potential inside the band, and hence rules out a crossover phenomenon. However, another variant of the off-diagonal inhomogeneity, i.e. an anisotropic hopping, offers a pro-crossover scenario in the large anisotropy limit.
Inhomogeneous
s-wave superconductivity is studied in the two-dimensional, square lattice attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) mean field approximation. We find that at weak coupling, and for densities mainly below half-filling, an inhomogeneous interaction in which the on-site interaction
Ui takes on two values,
Ui=0,2U results in a larger zero temperature pairing amplitude, and that the superconducting
Tc can also be significantly increased, relative to a uniform system with
Ui=U on all sites. These effects are observed for stripe, checkerboard, and even random patterns of the attractive centers, suggesting that the pattern of inhomogeneity is unimportant. Monte Carlo calculations which reintroduce some of the fluctuations neglected within the BdG approach see the same effect, both for the attractive Hubbard model and a Hamiltonian with
d-wave pairing symmetry.