Asymmetric Little--Parks Oscillations as a Probe of Coupled Pairing Channels in Surface-Superconducting \texorpdfstring{PtBi$_2$}{PtBi2}

Abstract

Motivated by the recent discovery of unconventional surface superconductivity in PtBi$_{2}$, we theoretically study its signatures in the Little-Parks oscillations of a narrow ring made from the same material. Using a Ginzburg-Landau model with three coupled pairing channels allowed by the trigonal crystal symmetry, we show that a fixed in-plane magnetic field can make the mean-field transition temperature asymmetric under reversal of the normal flux through the ring, while preserving periodicity in the superconducting flux quantum. The leading weak-field contribution to this asymmetry is cubic in the in-plane field strength. The flux-odd component respects the threefold crystal symmetry and changes sign when the in-plane field is rotated by $\pi/3$ at fixed magnitude. Within the homogeneous ring model, this asymmetry is absent for a single pairing channel and arises from the coupling between the three channels. Our calculations further show that increasing the in-plane magnetic field can enhance the superconducting nucleation temperature through mixing of pairing channels, illustrating magnetic control of multicomponent superconductivity in mesoscopic rings. Little-Parks interferometry with independent control of flux and field direction thus offers a mesoscopic probe of the pairing state, complementary to spectroscopic studies of the gap structure.