Vortices in d-wave superconductors

We determine the vortex structure in d(x2-y2)-wave superconductors with tetragonal (D-4h) and orthorhombic (D-2h) symmetry on the basis of Ginzburg-Landau theory. For the tetragonal symmetry, a d(x2-y2)-wave vortex induces s-wave and d(xy)-wave components. The s-wave component shows a characteristic four-fold structure, comprising 4 off-center vortices on each of the half-axes and a counter-rotating central vortex. An orthorhombic distortion modifies this structure significantly, with 6, 4, 2, or 0 off-center induced s-wave vortices present, depending on the magnitude of the distortion.