Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv · cond-mat/0107059

Josephson current between chiral superconductors

Abstract

We study chiral interface Andreev bound states and their influence on the Josephson current between clean superconductors. Possible examples are superconducting Sr2RuO4 and the B-phase of the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt3. We show that, under certain conditions, the low-energy chiral surface states enhance the critical current of symmetric tunnel junctions at low temperatures. The enhancement is substantially more pronounced in quantum point contacts. In classical junctions dispersive chiral states result in a logarithmic dependence of the critical current. This logarithmic behavior contains the temperature, the barrier transparency and the broadening of the bound states, and depends on the detailed relation between these parameters. The Josephson current through the domain wall doesn't acquire this logarithmic enhancement, although the contribution from the bound states is important in this case as well.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Yu. S. Barash, A. M. Bobkov, M. Fogelstrom. 2001-07-04. Josephson current between chiral superconductors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.64.214503

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Field-induced first order quantum phase transition of the superconducting order parameter in Ising superconductors with Rashba spin-orbit coupling

Ising superconductors have attracted significant attention recently due to their resilience against magnetic fields far beyond the Pauli-paramagnetic limit as well as their broader role as a platform for exploring the interplay of spin-orbit coupling, valley degrees of freedom and superconducting pairing in two-dimensional materials. Their protection against external magnetic field relies on strong Ising spin-orbit coupling, which originates from in-plane inversion symmetry breaking. Due to the heavy atom nature of Ising SCs, a smaller but sizable Rashba SOC can arise from gating or interfacial effects. Here, we study Rashba spin-orbit coupling within a two-valley model of Ising superconductors with an attractive $s$-wave interaction. We show that Rashba SOC induces a first order quantum phase transition in Ising superconductors. At low temperatures, this means the superconducting order parameter vanishes abruptly in the vicinity of the quantum critical point. This effect, however, disappears at high temperatures. Our findings demonstrate that the low- and high temperature physics of Ising SCs are quantitatively and qualitatively different in the two-valley model.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Nonlocal Cooper pairs in finite topological superconductors and their relation to Majorana nonlocality

We identify two fundamental properties of the Gor'kov Green's function of finite one-dimensional topological superconductors. In the low-frequency (low-energy) regime, the normal and anomalous Green's functions become identical up to a phase factor. Moreover, they exhibit pronounced nonlocality: the components connecting the two ends of the system grow exponentially with system length, whereas the local components at either end vanish in the zero-frequency limit. These striking features signify the emergence of unconventional nonlocal Cooper pairs associated with a nonlocal fermionic mode composed of hybridized Majorana end modes. The nonlocal Cooper pairs are directly linked to fermion parity and to the nonlocal transport properties of finite topological superconductors. By uncovering the unusual nonlocal properties of the Gor'kov Green's function, our analysis advances the understanding of Majorana nonlocality, a key concept in topological quantum computation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Collective phase modes in twisted $d$-wave superconducting bilayers

Twisted cuprate bilayers have been predicted to host high-temperature chiral $d+id'$ superconductivity, originating from higher-order Josephson coupling processes. In such two-dimensional superconducting systems, long-wavelength fluctuations in the phase of the superconducting order parameter constitute gapless collective modes and therefore remain significant even at zero temperature. Here, we perform a theoretical analysis of the low-energy phase fluctuations in twisted $d$-wave superconducting bilayers within a self-consistent harmonic approximation, systematically retaining Josephson coupling to all orders. We demonstrate that higher-order Josephson coupling processes lead to nontrivial modifications of the phase dynamics. The momentum-resolved summand of the relative-phase stiffness is nonzero even in the normal state because interlayer tunneling explicitly breaks the intralayer U(1) symmetry, but its momentum integral vanishes for the continuum dispersion. The relative-phase stiffness is smaller in the $d+id'$ phase than in the $d$-wave phase, while the overall-phase stiffness has the opposite behavior. Furthermore, phase fluctuations strongly soften the Josephson plasma frequency near a twist angle of $45^\circ$ and also substantially reduce the Josephson critical current.

cond-mat.supr-con↗