Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Feb 05;116(5):057001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.057001. Epub 2016 Feb 02.

Nonequilibrium Second-Order Phase Transition in a Cooper-Pair Insulator.

Physical review letters

A Doron, I Tamir, S Mitra, G Zeltzer, M Ovadia, D Shahar

PMID: 26894728 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.057001

Abstract

In certain disordered superconductors, upon increasing the magnetic field, superconductivity terminates with a direct transition into an insulating phase. This phase is comprised of localized Cooper pairs and is termed a Cooper-pair insulator. The current-voltage characteristics measured in this insulating phase are highly nonlinear and, at low temperatures, exhibit abrupt current jumps. Increasing the temperature diminishes the jumps until the current-voltage characteristics become continuous. We show that a direct correspondence exists between our system and systems that undergo an equilibrium, second-order, phase transition. We illustrate this correspondence by comparing our results to the van der Waals equation of state for the liquid-gas mixture. We use the similarities to identify a critical point where an out of equilibrium second-order-like phase transition occurs in our system. Approaching the critical point, we find a power-law behavior with critical exponents that characterizes the transition.

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