Magnetoelectric effects in Josephson junctions

TL;DR

This review discusses the magnetoelectric effects observed in Josephson junctions, highlighting their fundamental properties, manifestations, and potential for controlling magnetization electrically within superconducting systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the direct and inverse magnetoelectric effects in Josephson junctions, emphasizing their role in magnetization control and dynamics.

Findings

Magnetoelectric effects couple magnetization to Josephson current.

Direct effects enable electrical control of magnetization.

Inverse effects influence junction resistive states.

Abstract

The review is devoted to the fundamental aspects and characteristic features of the magnetoelectric effects, reported in the literature on Josephson junctions (JJs). The main focus of the review is on the manifestations of the direct and inverse magnetoelectric effects in various types of Josephson systems. They provide a coupling of the magnetization in superconductor/ferromagnet/superconductor JJs to the Josephson current. The direct magnetoelectric effect is a driving force of spin torques acting on the ferromagnet inside the JJ. Therefore it is of key importance for the electrical control of the magnetization. The inverse magnetoelectric effect accounts for the back action of the magnetization dynamics on the Josephson subsystem, in particular, making the JJ to be in the resistive state in the presence of the magnetization dynamics of any origin. The perspectives of the coupling of the magnetization in JJs with ferromagnetic interlayers to the Josephson current via the magnetoelectric effects are discussed.