Revival of superconductivity in high magnetic fields and a possible p-wave pairing in (TMTSF)2PF6

Abstract

From the BCS theory, we derive an equation which accounts for quantum effects of an electron motion along open Fermi surfaces and determines the upper critical field Hc2⊥(T) perpendicular to the chains of a quasi-one-dimensional conductor. This equation demonstrates two unusual phenomena: (1) restoration of superconductivity at H>Hc2⊥(0) in p-wave superconductors, where Hc2⊥(0) is the quasiclassical upper critical field; (2) surviving of superconductivity at Hc2⊥(0), Hp<H<HpLOFF in s-wave superconductors, where Hp is the Clogston-Chandrasekhar paramagnetic limiting field; the critical field HpLOFF is introduced in the paper. An analysis of recent experimental data by I. J. Lee, M. J. Naughton, G. M. Danner, and P. M. Chaikin [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3555 (1997)] shows that superconductivity significantly exceeds HpLOFF for b direction of a magnetic field in (TMTSF)2PF6. This demonstrates a strong suppression of the Pauli pair breaking effects and may reflect a p-wave pairing of electrons.

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