Josephson diode effect in nanowire-based Andreev molecules

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation and control of the Josephson diode effect in nanowire-based Andreev molecules, revealing non-local symmetry breaking and offering new ways to manipulate superconducting devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates the non-local regulation of the Josephson diode effect in Andreev molecules using phase and gate voltages, with theoretical and experimental alignment.

Findings

JDE observed in nanowire-based Andreev molecules

Non-local phase can reverse diode efficiency

Gate voltages modulate diode efficiency with a central-peak feature

Abstract

Superconducting systems exhibit non-reciprocal current transport under certain conditions of symmetry breaking, a phenomenon known as the superconducting diode effect. This effect allows for perfect rectification of supercurrent, and has received considerable research interest. We report the observation of the Josephson diode effect (JDE) in nanowire-based Andreev molecules, where the time-reversal and spatial-inversion symmetries of a Josephson junction (JJ) can be nonlocally broken by coherently coupling to another JJ. The JDE can be controlled using both non-local phase and gate voltages. Notably, the non-local phase can induce a sign reversal of the diode efficiency, a manifestation of regulating the probabilities of double elastic cotunneling and double-crossed Andreev reflection. Additionally, the diode efficiency can be further modulated by local and non-local gate voltages, exhibiting a central-peak feature in the gate-voltage space. Our theoretical calculations of the energy spectrum and the Josephson currents align well with the experimental results. These results demonstrate the non-local regulation of the JDE in Andreev molecules, offering significant implications for the control of multi-JJ devices and the development of advanced superconducting devices.