Vortex lattice melting line in superconductors with paramagnetic pair breaking

Abstract

Recent experiments on the iron-based superconductor FeSe in a high magnetic field have suggested the presence of both the fluctuation-induced vortex liquid regime and a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) vortex lattice. To get a general picture of the magnetic phase diagram in type II superconductors with strong superconducting (SC) fluctuation and strong paramagnetic pair breaking (PPB) such as FeSe, the vortex lattice melting curve Hm(T) is theoretically investigated in situations where a FFLO state is expected to occur. In general, PPB tends to narrow the vortex liquid regime intervening between Hc₂(T) and Hm(T). In particular, the vortex liquid regime is found to rapidly shrink upon entering; by cooling, the temperature range in which the FFLO state with a periodic modulation parallel to the magnetic field is stable in mean-field theory. Based on the present results, the high-field SC phase diagrams of FeSe in the parallel and perpendicular field configurations are discussed.