Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0005487 · Physical Review Letters

Details of Disorder Matter in 2D d -Wave Superconductors

W. A. Atkinson, P. J. Hirschfeld, Allan H. MacDonald, K. Ziegler

Published Oct 30, 2000• 66 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Within numerically exact solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, we demonstrate that discrepancies between predicted low-energy quasiparticle properties in disordered 2D d-wave superconductors occur because of the unanticipated importance of disorder model details and normal state particle-hole symmetry. For the realistic case, which is best described by a binary alloy model without particle-hole symmetry, we predict density-of-state suppression below an energy scale which appears to be correlated with the corresponding single impurity resonance.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.85.3926

Related papers

Gap Inhomogeneities and the Density of States in Disorderedd-Wave Superconductors

W. A. Atkinson, P. J. Hirschfeld, Allan H. MacDonald

We report on a numerical study of disorder effects in 2D d-wave BCS superconductors. We compare exact numerical solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) equations for the density of states rho(E) with the standard T-matrix approximation. Local suppression of the order parameter near impurity sites, which occurs in self-consistent solutions of the BdG equations, leads to apparent power-law behavior rho(E) approximately |E|(alpha) with nonuniversal alpha over an energy scale comparable to the single-impurity resonance energy Omega(0). We show that the novel effects arise from static spatial correlations between the order parameter and the impurity distribution.

arXiv:cond-mat/0002333•Physical Review Letters•Oct 30, 2000•75 citations

Quasiparticle density of states, localization, and distributed disorder in the cuprate superconductors

Miguel Antonio Sulangi, Jan Zaanen

We explore the effects of various kinds of random disorder on the quasiparticle density of states of two-dimensional $d$-wave superconductors using an exact real-space method, incorporating realistic details known about the cuprates. Random on-site energy and pointlike unitary impurity models are found to give rise to a vanishing DOS at the Fermi energy for narrow distributions and low concentrations, respectively, and lead to a finite, but suppressed, DOS at unrealistically large levels of disorder. Smooth disorder arising from impurities located away from the copper-oxide planes meanwhile gives rise to a finite DOS at realistic impurity concentrations. For the case of smooth disorder whose average potential is zero, a resonance is found at zero energy for the quasiparticle DOS at large impurity concentrations. We discuss the implications of these results on the computed low-temperature specific heat, the behavior of which we find is strongly affected by the amount of disorder present in the system. We also compute the localization length as a function of disorder strength for various types of disorder and find that intermediate- and high-energy states are quasiextended for low disorder, and that states near the Fermi energy are strongly localized and have a localization length that exhibits an unusual dependence on the amount of disorder. We comment on the origin of disorder in the cuprates and provide constraints on these based on known results from scanning tunneling spectroscopy and specific heat experiments.

arXiv:1711.11540•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Apr 16, 2018•9 citations

Impurity scattering and localization in d -wave superconductors

Marcel Franz, Catherine Kallin, A. J. Berlinsky

Strong evidence is presented for the localization of low-energy quasiparticle states in disordered $d$-wave superconductors. Within the framework of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) theory applied to the extended Hubbard model with a finite concentration of nonmagnetic impurities, we carry out a fully self-consistent numerical diagonalization of the BdG equations on finite clusters containing up to 50\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}50 sites. Localized states are identified by probing their sensitivity to the boundary conditions and by analyzing the finite-size dependence of inverse participation ratios.

arXiv:cond-mat/9604188•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Sep 1, 1996•100 citations

Quasiparticle resonant states induced by a unitary impurity in ad-wave superconductor

Jian‐Xin Zhu, T. K. Lee, C. S. Ting +1 more

The quasiparticle resonant states around a single nonmagnetic impurity with unitary scattering in a d-wave superconductor is studied by solving the Bogoliubov--de Gennes equations based on a $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model. Both the spatial variation of the order parameter and the local density of states (LDOS) around the impurity have been investigated. We find that (i) a particle-hole symmetric system has a single symmetric zero-energy peak in the LDOS regardless of the size of the superconducting coherence length ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0};$ (ii) for the particle-hole asymmetric case, an asymmetric splitting of the zero-energy peak is intrinsic to a system with a small value of ${k}_{F}{\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}.$

arXiv:cond-mat/9909363•Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Apr 1, 2000•35 citations

Impurity States and the Absence of Quasiparticle Localization in Disorderedd-Wave Superconductors

Alexander V. Balatsky, M. I. Salkola

The absence of localization of impurity-induced low-energy quasiparticle states in a 2D d-wave superconductor is shown for any amount of disorder in the limit of unitary scatterers. This result follows from the fact that a unitary impurity produces a marginally bound state at zero energy which decays as a power law along the nodes of the d-wave energy gap. Consequently, for finite density of impurities, the impurity-induced states are coupled by long-range overlaps yielding extended quasiparticle states below a characteristic energy scale ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$. Simple scaling arguments suggest that ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}\ensuremath{\propto}{e}^{{\ensuremath{-}c/n}_{\mathrm{imp}}}$, with ${n}_{\mathrm{imp}}$ the impurity density and c a positive constant.

arXiv:cond-mat/9602034•Physical Review Letters•Mar 25, 1996•79 citations

Self-consistent calculations of the effects of disorder in d-wave and s-wave superconductors

Long He, Yun Song

The kernel polynomial method, as an approach to deriving highly-accurate spectral properties of large sparse matrices, is extended to investigate the effects of disorder in two-dimensional inhomogeneous superconductors. Being able to solve the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for quite large square lattices self-consistently, we gain new microscopic insights and make intuitive observations of the localization of low-energy quasiparticles on the nanometer scale. We also compare the behaviors of the optical conductivities of superconductors with different pairing symmetries. We find that the Drude weight turns out to be finite only for the weakly-disordered d -wave superconductor while obvious suppression of the optical conductivity in the infrared range can be observed in the disordered s -wave superconductor.

Journal of the Korean Physical Society•Jun 1, 2013•4 citations
Within numerically exact solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, we demonstrate that discrepancies between predicted low-energy quasiparticle properties in disordered 2D d-wave superconductors occur because of the unanticipated importance of disorder model details and normal state particle-hole symmetry. For the realistic case, which is best described by a binary alloy model without particle-hole symmetry, we predict density-of-state suppression below an energy scale which appears to be correlated with the corresponding single impurity resonance.
We report on a numerical study of disorder effects in 2D d-wave BCS superconductors. We compare exact numerical solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) equations for the density of states rho(E) with the standard T-matrix approximation. Local suppression of the order parameter near impurity sites, which occurs in self-consistent solutions of the BdG equations, leads to apparent power-law behavior rho(E) approximately |E|(alpha) with nonuniversal alpha over an energy scale comparable to the single-impurity resonance energy Omega(0). We show that the novel effects arise from static spatial correlations between the order parameter and the impurity distribution.
We explore the effects of various kinds of random disorder on the quasiparticle density of states of two-dimensional ddd-wave superconductors using an exact real-space method, incorporating realistic details known about the cuprates. Random on-site energy and pointlike unitary impurity models are found to give rise to a vanishing DOS at the Fermi energy for narrow distributions and low concentrations, respectively, and lead to a finite, but suppressed, DOS at unrealistically large levels of disorder. Smooth disorder arising from impurities located away from the copper-oxide planes meanwhile gives rise to a finite DOS at realistic impurity concentrations. For the case of smooth disorder whose average potential is zero, a resonance is found at zero energy for the quasiparticle DOS at large impurity concentrations. We discuss the implications of these results on the computed low-temperature specific heat, the behavior of which we find is strongly affected by the amount of disorder present in the system. We also compute the localization length as a function of disorder strength for various types of disorder and find that intermediate- and high-energy states are quasiextended for low disorder, and that states near the Fermi energy are strongly localized and have a localization length that exhibits an unusual dependence on the amount of disorder. We comment on the origin of disorder in the cuprates and provide constraints on these based on known results from scanning tunneling spectroscopy and specific heat experiments.
Strong evidence is presented for the localization of low-energy quasiparticle states in disordered ddd-wave superconductors. Within the framework of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) theory applied to the extended Hubbard model with a finite concentration of nonmagnetic impurities, we carry out a fully self-consistent numerical diagonalization of the BdG equations on finite clusters containing up to 50\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}50 sites. Localized states are identified by probing their sensitivity to the boundary conditions and by analyzing the finite-size dependence of inverse participation ratios.
The quasiparticle resonant states around a single nonmagnetic impurity with unitary scattering in a d-wave superconductor is studied by solving the Bogoliubov--de Gennes equations based on a $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model. Both the spatial variation of the order parameter and the local density of states (LDOS) around the impurity have been investigated. We find that (i) a particle-hole symmetric system has a single symmetric zero-energy peak in the LDOS regardless of the size of the superconducting coherence length ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0};$ (ii) for the particle-hole asymmetric case, an asymmetric splitting of the zero-energy peak is intrinsic to a system with a small value of ${k}_{F}{\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}.$
The absence of localization of impurity-induced low-energy quasiparticle states in a 2D d-wave superconductor is shown for any amount of disorder in the limit of unitary scatterers. This result follows from the fact that a unitary impurity produces a marginally bound state at zero energy which decays as a power law along the nodes of the d-wave energy gap. Consequently, for finite density of impurities, the impurity-induced states are coupled by long-range overlaps yielding extended quasiparticle states below a characteristic energy scale ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$. Simple scaling arguments suggest that ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}\ensuremath{\propto}{e}^{{\ensuremath{-}c/n}_{\mathrm{imp}}}$, with nimp{n}_{\mathrm{imp}}nimp​ the impurity density and c a positive constant.
The kernel polynomial method, as an approach to deriving highly-accurate spectral properties of large sparse matrices, is extended to investigate the effects of disorder in two-dimensional inhomogeneous superconductors. Being able to solve the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for quite large square lattices self-consistently, we gain new microscopic insights and make intuitive observations of the localization of low-energy quasiparticles on the nanometer scale. We also compare the behaviors of the optical conductivities of superconductors with different pairing symmetries. We find that the Drude weight turns out to be finite only for the weakly-disordered d -wave superconductor while obvious suppression of the optical conductivity in the infrared range can be observed in the disordered s -wave superconductor.