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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Quantum-geometry-induced intrinsic optical anomaly in multiorbital superconductors

Weipeng Chen and Wen Huang*

  • Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China; International Quantum Academy (SIQA), and Shenzhen Branch, Hefei National Laboratory, Futian District, Shenzhen, China and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China

  • *huangw3@sustech.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L042018 – Published 5 November, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L042018

Abstract

Bloch electrons in multiorbital systems carry nontrivial quantum geometric information characteristic of their orbital composition as a function of their wave vector. When such electrons form Cooper pairs, the resultant superconducting state naturally inherits aspects of the quantum geometry. In this paper, we study how this geometric character is revealed in the intrinsic optical response of the superconducting state. In particular, due to the superconducting gap opening, interband optical transitions involving states around the Fermi level are forbidden. This generally leads to an anomalous suppression of the optical conductivity at frequencies matching the band separation—which could be significantly higher than the superconducting gap energy. We discuss how the predicted anomaly may have already emerged in two earlier measurements on an iron-based superconductor. When interband Cooper pairing is present, intraband optical transitions may be allowed and finite conductivity emerges at low frequencies right above the gap edge. These conductivities depend crucially on the off-diagonal elements of the velocity matrix in the band representation, i.e., the interband velocity—which is related to the non-Abelian Berry connection of the Bloch states.

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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L042018– Published 5 November, 2021
  • Received 22 June 2021
  • Accepted 20 October 2021
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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