Superconducting diodes from magnetization gradients

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Roig, Mercè, Kotetes, Panagiotis, Andersen, Brian M.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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_version_ 1866913293450346496
author Roig, Mercè
Kotetes, Panagiotis
Andersen, Brian M.
author_facet Roig, Mercè
Kotetes, Panagiotis
Andersen, Brian M.
contents The superconducting diode effect may exist in bulk systems as well as in junctions when time-reversal and inversion symmetries are simultaneously broken. Magnetization gradients and textures satisfy both requirements and therefore also allow for superconducting diodes. We concretely demonstrate such possibilities in two-dimensional superconductors. We first consider superconducting Rashba metals in the presence of an inhomogeneous out-of-plane exchange field. Using analytical arguments, we reveal that such magnetization gradients stabilize a helical superconducting ground state, similar to homogeneous in-plane magnetic fields. Our predictions are confirmed by employing self-consistent real-space numerical lattice simulations exemplified through the cases of a uniform magnetization gradient or a ferromagnetic domain wall. Furthermore, by considering a phase difference, we determine the nonreciprocal current-phase relations and explore their parameter dependence. Our calculations show that planar devices with out-of-plane magnetization gradients may be as efficient supercurrent rectifiers as their analogs induced by uniform in-plane fields. In addition, they feature the advantage that by means of tailoring the spatial profile of the out-of-plane magnetization, one may optimize and spatially control the diode effect. Finally, we show that superconducting diodes may become also accessible even in the absence of spin-orbit coupling by means of suitable spatially-varying magnetization fields.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_13857
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Superconducting diodes from magnetization gradients
Roig, Mercè
Kotetes, Panagiotis
Andersen, Brian M.
Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
The superconducting diode effect may exist in bulk systems as well as in junctions when time-reversal and inversion symmetries are simultaneously broken. Magnetization gradients and textures satisfy both requirements and therefore also allow for superconducting diodes. We concretely demonstrate such possibilities in two-dimensional superconductors. We first consider superconducting Rashba metals in the presence of an inhomogeneous out-of-plane exchange field. Using analytical arguments, we reveal that such magnetization gradients stabilize a helical superconducting ground state, similar to homogeneous in-plane magnetic fields. Our predictions are confirmed by employing self-consistent real-space numerical lattice simulations exemplified through the cases of a uniform magnetization gradient or a ferromagnetic domain wall. Furthermore, by considering a phase difference, we determine the nonreciprocal current-phase relations and explore their parameter dependence. Our calculations show that planar devices with out-of-plane magnetization gradients may be as efficient supercurrent rectifiers as their analogs induced by uniform in-plane fields. In addition, they feature the advantage that by means of tailoring the spatial profile of the out-of-plane magnetization, one may optimize and spatially control the diode effect. Finally, we show that superconducting diodes may become also accessible even in the absence of spin-orbit coupling by means of suitable spatially-varying magnetization fields.
title Superconducting diodes from magnetization gradients
topic Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.13857