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Charge-2e Superconductivity from a Disordered Pair Density Wave

Julian May-Mann*, Akshat Pandey†, Zhengyan Darius Shi‡, and Steven A. Kivelson§

  • *Contact author: maymann@stanford.edu
  • †Contact author: akshatp@stanford.edu
  • ‡Contact author: zhengyanshi@stanford.edu
  • §Contact author: kivelson@stanford.edu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 116003 – Published 11 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/g98c-463s

Abstract

We investigate the effects of disorder on a system that in the clean limit is a pair density wave (PDW) superconductor. The charge order of the clean PDW is inevitably lost (via Imry-Ma), but the fate of the superconducting order is less clear. Here, we consider a strongly inhomogeneous limit in which the system consists of a random collection of PDW puddles embedded in a metallic background. When the puddles are dilute, they become phase coherent at low temperatures, resulting in a state that is macroscopically equivalent to a charge-2e s-wave superconductor. This is a mechanism by which a PDW can have zero resistance, even in the presence of disorder, and is thermodynamically distinct from the “vestigial” charge-4e superconductivity that has been proposed to arise in weakly disordered PDWs.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 116003– Published 11 September, 2026
  • Received 4 October 2025
  • Revised 18 March 2026
  • Accepted 3 August 2026
Article part of CHORUS
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