Orbital effect for the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase in a quasi-two-dimensional superconductor in a parallel magnetic field

Abstract

We theoretically study the orbital destructive effect against superconductivity in a parallel magnetic field in the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO or LOFF) phase at zero temperature in a quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) conductor. We demonstrate that at zero temperature a special parameter, $\lambda = l_{\perp}(H)/d$, is responsible for strength of the orbital effect, where $l_{\perp}(H)$ is a typical "size" of the quasi-classical electron orbit in a magnetic field and $d$ is the inter-plane distance. We discuss applications of our results to the existing experiments on the FFLO phase in the organic Q2D conductors $\kappa$-(ET)$_2$Cu(NCS)$_2$ and $\kappa$-(ET)$_2$Cu[N(CN)$_2$]Cl.