Theory of Little-Parks oscillations by vortices in two-dimensional superconductors

Abstract

The Little-Parks (LP) effect is a quantum phenomenon in which the superconducting transition temperature of a superconducting cylinder (or ring) oscillates periodically as a function of the magnetic flux threading the loop. Recently, multiple experiments have observed half-quantum flux shifts in measurements of LP oscillations, where the oscillations are globally shifted by half a flux quantum compared to conventional cases, a behavior referred to as a $\pi$-ring. Such observations are commonly linked to unconventional pairing symmetries. In this work, we demonstrate that half-quantum flux shifts can arise in two-dimensional (2D) superconducting rings without invoking unconventional pairing symmetry, provided that vortices near the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition are taken into account. Specifically, based on the vortex-charge duality theory near the BKT transition, we map the problem onto a Coulomb gas model, in which the magnetic flux is represented as a pair of opposite boundary charges (or vortices) at the two edges. The screening of these boundary charges by thermally excited vortex-antivortex pairs is investigated through explicit Monte Carlo simulations. Importantly, we demonstrate that the oscillation of the free-vortex density as a function of magnetic flux can exhibit an anomalous half-quantum flux shift, depending on the geometry of the sample. Our work thus predicts the LP oscillations induced by vortices in 2D superconducting rings near the BKT transition, which provides a new mechanism for generating $\pi$-rings.