npj Quantum Materials ( IF 5.4 ) Pub Date : 2022-09-28 , DOI: 10.1038/s41535-022-00509-8 Yuri Fukaya , Yukio Tanaka , Paola Gentile , Keiji Yada , Mario Cuoco
We study the Josephson effects arising in junctions made of non-centrosymmetric superconductors with spin-triplet pairing having s-wave orbital-singlet symmetry. We demonstrate that the orbital dependent character of the spin-triplet order parameter determines its non-trivial texture in the momentum space due to the inversion symmetry breaking and spin-orbit interactions. The emergence of this pattern is responsible for the occurrence of an anomalous Josephson coupling and a dominance of high-harmonics in the current phase relation. Remarkably, due to the spin-orbital couplings, variations in the electronic structure across the heterostructure can generally turn the ground state of the junction from 0- to a generic value of the Josephson phase, thus realizing the so-called φ-junction. Hallmarks of the resulting Josephson behavior, apart from non-standard current-phase relation, are provided by an unconventional temperature and magnetic field dependence of the critical current. These findings indicate the path for the design of superconducting orbitronics devices and account for several observed anomalies of the supercurrent in oxide interface superconductors.
中文翻译:
具有 S 波自旋三重态配对的非中心对称超导体中的异常约瑟夫森耦合和高谐波
我们研究了由非中心对称超导体制成的结中产生的约瑟夫森效应,该超导体具有具有s波轨道单线对称性的自旋三重态配对。我们证明,由于反演对称性破坏和自旋轨道相互作用,自旋三重态参数的轨道相关特征决定了其在动量空间中的非平凡纹理。这种模式的出现是造成异常约瑟夫森耦合和当前相位关系中高谐波占主导地位的原因。值得注意的是,由于自旋轨道耦合,异质结构上电子结构的变化通常可以将结的基态从 0- 转变为约瑟夫森相的通用值,从而实现所谓的φ-交界处。除了非标准的电流相位关系之外,由此产生的约瑟夫森行为的标志是由临界电流的非常规温度和磁场依赖性提供的。这些发现指明了设计超导轨道电子器件的途径,并解释了在氧化物界面超导体中观察到的几个超电流异常。