A nonuniform in-plane Zeeman field can induce spontaneous supercurrents of spin-orbit coupled electrons in superconducting two-dimensional systems and thin films. In this work it is shown that current vortices can be created at the ends of a long homogeneously magnetized strip of a ferromagnetic insulator, which is deposited on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator. The s-wave superconductivity on its surface is assumed to have an intrinsic origin, or to be induced by the proximity effect. It is shown that vortices with the odd vorticity can localize Majorana zero modes.The latter may also be induced by sufficiently narrow domain walls inside the strip, that opens a way for manipulating these modes by moving the walls. It is shown that the vorticity can be tuned by varying the magnetization and width of the strip. A stability of the strip magnetization with respect to the Berezinsky-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition has been analyzed.
A weak parallel Zeeman field combined with the spin-orbit coupling can induce the supercurrent in an s-wave two-dimensional superconductor. At the same time, the thermodynamically equilibrium state of such a system is characterized by the helix phase where the order parameter varies in space as $\exp(i\mathbf{Qr})$. In this state the electric current that is induced by the Zeeman interaction is exactly counterbalanced by the current produced by the gradient of the order-parameter. We studied the interplay of the helix state and magnetoelectric current in the case of a varying in space Zeeman f…
We report on an experimental investigation of the combined effect of nonequilibrium quasiparticle injection and supercurrent in superconducting aluminum wires. At low temperature, we observe the supercurrent-induced coupling of energy and charge imbalance with spectral resolution. At high magnetic fields, in the presence of a Zeeman splitting of the density of states, we find evidence for an additional spin-dependent coupling which has been recently predicted theoretically.
We theoretically study the profile of a supercurrent in two-dimensional Josephson junctions with Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (RDSOI) in the presence of a Zeeman field. Through investigating self-biased supercurrent (so called $φ_0$-Josephson state), we obtain explicit expressions for the functionality of the $φ_0$ state with respect to RDSOI parameters ($α,β$) and in-plane Zeeman field components ($h_x,h_y$). Our findings reveal that, when the chemical potential ($μ$) is high enough compared to the energy gap ($Δ$) in superconducting electrodes, i.e., $μ\gg Δ$, RSOI and DSOI with…
We consider DC supercurrents in SNS junctions. Spin-orbit coupling in combination with Zeeman fields can induce an effective vector potential in the normal conductor. As a consequence, an out-of-plane spin-density varying along the transverse direction causes a longitudinal phase difference between the superconducting terminals. The resulting equilibrium phase coherent supercurrent is analogue to the non-equilibrium inverse spin Hall effect in normal conductors. We explicitly compute the effect for the Rashba spin orbit coupling in a disordered two-dimensional electron gas with an inhomogeneou…
In this paper we study the effect of a Zeeman field on the supercurrent of a mesoscopic SNS junction. It is shown that the supercurrent suppression is due to a redistribution of current-carrying states in energy space. A dramatic consequence is that (part of the) the suppressed supercurrent can be recovered with a suitable non-equilibrium distribution of quasiparticles.
We consider a mesoscopic normal metal, where the spin degeneracy is lifted by a ferromagnetic exchange field or Zeeman splitting, coupled to two superconducting reservoirs. As a function of the exchange field or the distance between the reservoirs, the supercurrent through this device oscillates with an exponentially decreasing envelope. This phenomenon is similar to the tuning of a supercurrent by a non-equilibrium quasiparticle distribution between two voltage-biased reservoirs. We propose a device combining the exchange field and non-equilibrium effects, which allows us to observe a range o…
The interplay of the electron exchange interaction and spin-orbit coupling results in spontaneous supercurrents near magnetic insulator islands, which are placed on the top of a two-dimensional (2D) superconductor, and whose magnetization is parallel to 2D electron gas. It is shown that in contrast to the well studied situation, where such an effect involves only topologically trivial spatial variations of the superconducting order parameter, one should take into account supercurrent vortices. The latter are spontaneously generated around the island's boundary of an arbitrary shape and result …
We investigate Josephson junctions among conventional superconducting wires, in the presence of externally applied Zeeman fields and supercurrents. We demonstrate that the critical Josephson current and the current-phase relation of the junction depends on the relative orientation of the applied Zeeman fields and supercurrents. The controllability of the Josephson current relies on the stabilization of conventional superconductivity in high magnetic fields, due to the restoration of the opposite momentum opposite spin projection resonance at the Fermi level. We assert that our results can lead…
The Josephson effect is a fundamental quantum phenomenon consisting in the appearance of a dissipationless supercurrent in a weak link between two superconducting (S) electrodes. While the mechanism leading to the Josephson effect is quite general, i.e., Andreev reflections at the interface between the S electrodes and the weak link, the precise physical details and topology of the junction drastically modify the properties of the supercurrent. Specifically, a strong enhancement of the critical supercurrent $I_C$ is expected to occur when the topology of the junction allows the emergence of Ma…
Altermagnetic spin textures coupled to superconductors: Domain wall spin-triplet superconductivity and supercurrent-induced torques
Hearne Institute of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学物理与天文学系赫恩理论物理研究所）；Institute for Theoretical Physics III, University of Stuttgart（斯图加特大学理论物理第三研究所）
研究与传统 s 波超导体耦合的交变磁体中库珀对形式，考虑交变磁序参量空间不均匀性，发现超导性受交变磁畴影响，有三重态热点等，还存在超电流与交变磁序的相互作用，为相关研究提供独特机会。
Nonreciprocal transport refers to charge transfer processes that are sensitive to the bias polarity. Until recently, nonreciprocal transport was studied only in dissipative systems, where the nonreciprocal quantity is the resistance. Recent experiments have, however, demonstrated nonreciprocal supercurrent leading to the observation of a supercurrent diode effect in Rashba superconductors, opening the vision of dissipationless electronics. Here we report on a supercurrent diode effect in NbSe$_2$ constrictions obtained by patterning NbSe$_2$ flakes with both even and odd layer number. The obse…
We study the effect of the intrinsic (Rashba or Dresselhaus) spin-orbit interaction in superconductor--nanowire--superconductor (SNS) weak links in the presence of a spin-splitting field that can result either from an intrinsic exchange field or the Zeeman effect of an applied field. We solve the full non-linear Usadel equations numerically and analyze the resulting supercurrent through the weak link and the behavior of the density of states in the center of the wire. We point out how the presence of the spin-orbit interaction gives rise to a long-range spin triplet supercurrent, which remains…
We consider superconductivity confined at a two-dimensional interface with a strong surface spin-orbit (Rashba) interaction. Some peculiar properties of this system are investigated. In particular, we show that an in-plane Zeeman field can induce a supercurrent flow.
Electrons in a Dirac semimetals possess linear dispersion in all three spatial dimensions, and form part of a developing platform of novel quantum materials. Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ supports a three-dimensional Dirac cone at the Sb-induced band inversion point. Nanoscale phase-sensitive junction technology is used to induce superconductivity in this Dirac semimetal. Radio frequency irradiation experiments reveal a significant contribution of 4$π$-periodic Andreev bound states to the supercurrent in Nb-Bi$_{0.97}$Sb$_{0.03}$-Nb Josephson junctions. The conditions for a substantial $4π$ contribution to…
We study the excess conductance due to the superconducting proximity effect in a ballistic two-dimensional electron system subject to an in-plane magnetic field. We show that under certain conditions the interplay of the Zeeman spin splitting and the effect of a screening supercurrent gives rise to a spin-selective Andreev enhancement of the conductance and anomalies in its voltage, temperature and magnetic field characteristics. The magnetic-field influence on Andreev reflection is discussed in the context of using superconducting hybrid junctions for spin detection.
We propose a new mechanism for topological superconductivity based on an antiferromagnetically ordered chain of magnetic atoms on the surface of a conventional superconductor. In a weak Zeeman field, a supercurrent in the substrate generates a staggered spin-current, which converts the preexisting topologically-unprotected Shiba states into Majorana fermions (MFs). The two experimental knobs can be finely tuned providing a platform with enhanced functionality for applications. Remarkably, the electronic spin-polarization of the arising edge MF wavefunctions depends solely on the parity of the …
We study the combined effects of spin-orbit interaction, magnetic field, and Coulomb charging on the Josephson current-phase relation, I(φ), for a multi-level quantum dot tunnel-contacted by two conventional s-wave superconductors with phase difference φ. A general model is formulated and analyzed in the cotunneling regime (weak tunnel coupling) and in the deep subgap limit, fully taking into account interaction effects. We determine the conditions for observing a finite anomalous supercurrent I_a=I(φ=0). For a two-level dot with spin-orbit coupling and arbitrarily weak Zeeman field B, we find…
It is well-known that the ground state of homogeneous superconducting systems with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in the presence of the Zeeman field is the so-called helical state, which is characterized by the phase modulation of the order parameter, but zero supercurrent density. In this work we investigate the realization of the helical state in a hybrid system with spatially separated superconductivity and exchange field by considering S/F bilayer on top of a 3D topological insulator. This system is characterized by strong spin-momentum locking and, consequently, provides the most favorable co…
International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials (ICQD), University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学量子功能材料国际设计中心）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
