Domain walls and their experimental signatures in s+is superconductors

Arguments were recently advanced that hole-doped Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ exhibits $s+is$ state at certain doping. Spontaneous breaking of time reversal symmetry in $s+is$ state, dictates that it possess domain wall excitations. Here, we discuss what are the experimentally detectable signatures of domain walls in $s+is$ state. We find that in this state the domain walls can have dipole-like magnetic signature (in contrast to the uniform magnetic signature of domain walls $p+ip$ superconductors). We propose experiments where quench-induced domain walls can be stabilized by geometric barriers and be observed via their magnetic signature or their influence on the magnetization process, thereby providing an experimental tool to confirm $s+is$ state.Comment: Replaced with a version in print in Physical Review Letters; Minor changes; 8 pages, 9 figure

Topological defects in mixtures of superconducting condensates with different charges

We investigate the topological defects in phenomenological models describing mixtures of charged condensates with commensurate electric charges. Such situations are expected to appear for example in liquid metallic deuterium. This is modeled by a multicomponent Ginzburg-Landau theory where the condensates are coupled to the same gauge field by different coupling constants whose ratio is a rational number. We also briefly discuss the case where electric charges are incommensurate. Flux quantization and finiteness of the energy per unit length dictate that the different condensates have different winding and thus different number of (fractional) vortices. Competing attractive and repulsive interactions lead to molecule-like bound state between fractional vortices. Such bound states have finite energy and carry integer flux quanta. These can be characterized by $\mathbb{C}P^1$ topological invariant that motivates their denomination as skyrmions.Comment: Replaced with a version in print in Phys. Rev. B; Improved and extended as compared to the first version; 14 pages, 8 figure

Skyrmionic state and stable half-quantum vortices in chiral p-wave superconductors

Observability of half-quantum vortices and skyrmions in p-wave superconductors is an outstanding open question. Under the most common conditions, fractional flux vortices are not thermodynamically stable in bulk samples. Here we show that in chiral p-wave superconductors, there is a regime where, in contrast lattices of integer flux vortices are not thermodynamically stable. Instead skyrmions made of spatially separated half-quantum vortices are the topological defects produced by an applied external field.Comment: Replaced with a version in print in Physical Review B, Rapid Communications; References added; 8 pages, 9 figure

Microscopic prediction of skyrmion lattice state in clean interface superconductors

When an in-plane field is applied to a clean interface superconductor, a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO)-like phase is stabilized. This phase has a $\mathrm{U}(1)\times\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry and, in principle, this symmetry allows for flux carrying topological excitations different from Abrikosov vortices (which are the simplest defects associated with $S^1 \to S^1$ maps). However, in practice, largely due to electromagnetic and other intercomponent interactions, such topological excitations are very rare in superconducting systems. Here we demonstrate that a realistic microscopic theory for interface superconductors, such as SrTiO$_3$/LaAlO$_3$, predicts an unconventional magnetic response where the flux-carrying objects are skyrmions, characterized by homotopy invariants of $S^2 \to S^2$ maps. Additionally, we show that this microscopic theory predicts that stable fractional vortices form near the boundary of these superconductors. It also predicts the appearance of type-1.5 superconductivity for some range of parameters. Central to these results is the assumption that the Rashba spin orbit coupling is much larger than the superconducting gap.Comment: Replaced with a version in print in Phys. Rev. B; Improved and extended as compared to the first version; 10 pages, 6 figure

Chiral CP^2 skyrmions in three-band superconductors

It is shown that under certain conditions, three-component superconductors (and in particular three-band systems) allow stable topological defects different from vortices. We demonstrate the existence of these excitations, characterized by a $CP^2$ topological invariant, in models for three-component superconductors with broken time reversal symmetry. We term these topological defects "chiral $GL^{(3)}$ skyrmions", where "chiral" refers to the fact that due to broken time reversal symmetry, these defects come in inequivalent left- and right-handed versions. In certain cases these objects are energetically cheaper than vortices and should be induced by an applied magnetic field. In other situations these skyrmions are metastable states, which can be produced by a quench. Observation of these defects can signal broken time reversal symmetry in three-band superconductors or in Josephson-coupled bilayers of $s_\pm$ and s-wave superconductors.Comment: minor presentation changes; replaced journal version; 30 pages, 21 figure