arXiv subjects

Yong-Lei Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Yong-Lei Wang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Geometric Superconducting Diode Effect in an NbN Nanoring

Superconducting diodes, which exhibit nonreciprocal critical currents, are promising building blocks for low-power cryogenic electronics and superconducting circuits. Existing superconducting diode platforms commonly rely on Josephson junctions, multilayer heterostructures, ferromagnetic elements, gate-difined structures. Here, we demonstrate a geometrically induced superconducting diode effect realized in a structurally minimal, single-materials NbN nanoring, where inversion-symmetry breaking is introduced solely by the asymmetric geometry. The device exhibits pronounced and polarity-switchable critical-current nonreciprocity. Systematic magnetic-field and temperature-dependent measurements reveal that, at low fields, the applied magnetic field redistributes the critical current asymmetrically between opposite bias directions without significantly reducing the overall superconducting current-carrying capability. Moreover, the maximal nonreciprocity and diode efficiency exhibit distinct temperature dependence: the maximal diode efficiency follows the evolution of the energy gap, whereas the maximal nonreciprocity is more closely associated with the superfluid density. These results establish asymmetric superconducting nanorings as a minimal geometric platform for studying nonreciprocal superconducting transport and provide a simple design principle for future superconducting electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Nanoscale electrothermal-switch superconducting diode for electrically programmable superconducting circuits

Superconducting diodes enable dissipationless directional transport, yet achieving electrical tunability and scalability remains a major challenge for circuit-level integration. Here, we demonstrate an electrothermal-switch superconducting diode in which a gate-controlled nanoscale hotspot dynamically breaks inversion symmetry in a superconducting nanowire. This mechanism gives rise to two coexisting nonreciprocal transport regimes-one associated with a nonreciprocal superconducting-to-normal transition and the other with ratchet-like vortex dynamics-both originating from the same electrothermal-switch process. The diode exhibits efficiencies up to 42% and 60% for the two regimes, respectively, and can be electrically switched on, off, or reversed in polarity in situ by applying a small gate current. These capabilities enable programmable superconducting circuits that realize electrically reconfigurable full-wave and half-wave rectification. The lithography-compatible design, high performance, and gate-controlled functionality establish a scalable platform for programmable superconducting electronics and hybrid quantum systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Scalable High-Temperature Superconducting Diodes in Intrinsic Josephson Junctions

Superconducting diodes, characterized by nonreciprocal supercurrent transport, offer transformative opportunities for ultra-low-power circuits. However, achieving reliable operation at temperatures above liquid nitrogen remains a major challenge, limiting their practical applicability. Here, we present a scalable strategy for high-temperature superconducting diodes based on intrinsic Josephson junctions naturally present in a cuprate superconductor. We demonstrate that strong nonreciprocity arises not only from broken spatial and time-reversal symmetries, but also from enhanced anharmonicity in the current-phase relation, enabled by the atomically thin barrier of the intrinsic junction. The diode efficiency strongly depends on the number of stacked intrinsic junctions, with the highest efficiency occurring in single-junction devices. Notably, these high-temperature superconducting diodes are readily scalable to large arrays, marking a critical step toward practical implementation in energy-efficient computing architectures.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Topological geometric frustration in a cube-surface artificial spin ice

Artificial spin ices provide a controlled platform for investigating diverse physical phenomena, such as geometric frustration, magnetic monopoles, and phase transitions, via deliberate design. Here, we introduce a novel approach by developing artificial spin ice on the surfaces of a three-dimensional cube, which leads to emergent geometric frustration mediated by topologically protected domain walls, distinct from its flat counterparts. These domain walls connect vertices at the corners of cube that acting as intrinsic topological defects. Utilizing Monte Carlo simulations, we observe robust, topologically protected correlations among the intrinsic topological defects, regardless of their spatial separation. Our findings demonstrate that three-dimensional surfaces can unveil emergent properties absent in flat architectures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Magnetic nonreciprocity in a hybrid device of asymmetric artificial spin-ice-superconductors

Controlling the size and distribution of potential barriers within a medium of interacting particles can unveil unique collective behaviors and innovative functionalities. In this study, we introduce a unique superconducting hybrid device using a novel artificial spin ice structure composed of asymmetric nanomagnets. This structure forms a distinctive superconducting pinning potential that steers unconventional motion of superconducting vortices, thereby inducing a magnetic nonreciprocal effect, in contrast to the electric nonreciprocal effect commonly observed in superconducting diodes. Furthermore, the polarity of the magnetic nonreciprocity is in-situ reversible through the tunable magnetic patterns of artificial spin ice. Our findings demonstrate that artificial spin ice not only precisely modulates superconducting characteristics but also opens the door to novel functionalities, offering a groundbreaking paradigm for superconducting electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Integrated and DC-powered superconducting microcomb

Frequency combs, specialized laser sources emitting multiple equidistant frequency lines, have revolutionized science and technology with unprecedented precision and versatility. Recently, integrated frequency combs are emerging as scalable solutions for on-chip photonics. Here, we demonstrate a fully integrated superconducting microcomb that is easy to manufacture, simple to operate, and consumes ultra-low power. Our turnkey apparatus comprises a basic nonlinear superconducting device, a Josephson junction, directly coupled to a superconducting microstrip resonator. We showcase coherent comb generation through self-started mode-locking. Therefore, comb emission is initiated solely by activating a DC bias source, with power consumption as low as tens of picowatts. The resulting comb spectrum resides in the microwave domain and spans multiple octaves. The linewidths of all comb lines can be narrowed down to 1 Hz through a unique coherent injection-locking technique. Our work represents a critical step towards fully integrated microwave photonics and offers the potential for integrated quantum processors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Tunable superconducting resonators via on-chip control of local magnetic field

Superconducting microwave resonators play a pivotal role in superconducting quantum circuits. The ability to fine-tune their resonant frequencies provides enhanced control and flexibility. Here, we introduce a frequency-tunable superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator. By applying electrical currents through specifically designed ground wires, we achieve the generation and control of a localized magnetic field on the central line of the resonator, enabling continuous tuning of its resonant frequency. We demonstrate a frequency tuning range of 54.85 MHz in a 6.21 GHz resonator. This integrated and tunable resonator holds great potential as a dynamically tunable filter and as a key component of communication buses and memory elements in superconducting quantum computing.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Toroidic phase transitions in a direct-kagome artificial spin ice

Ferrotoroidicity, the fourth form of primary ferroic order, breaks both space and time inversion symmetry. So far, direct observation of ferrotoroidicity in natural materials remains elusive, which impedes the exploration of ferrotoroidic phase transitions. Here, we overcome the limitations of natural materials using an artificial nanomagnet system that can be characterized at the constituent level and at different effective temperatures. We design a nanomagnet array as to realize a direct-kagome spin ice. This artificial spin ice exhibits robust toroidal moments and a quasi-degenerate ground state with two distinct low-temperature toroidal phases: ferrotoroidicity and paratoroidicity. Using magnetic force microscopy and Monte Carlo simulation, we demonstrate a phase transition between ferrotoroidicity and paratoroidicity, along with a crossover to a non-toroidal paramagnetic phase. Our quasi-degenerate artificial spin ice in a direct-kagome structure provides a model system for the investigation of magnetic states and phase transitions that are inaccessible in natural materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Unconventional superconducting diode effects via antisymmetry and antisymmetry breaking

Symmetry-breaking plays a pivotal role in unlocking intriguing properties and functionalities in material systems. For example, the breaking of spatial and temporal symmetries leads to a fascinating phenomenon of superconducting diode effect. However, generating and precisely controlling the superconducting diode effect poses significant challenges. Here, we take a novel route with deliberate manipulation of magnetic charge potentials to realize unconventional superconducting flux-quantum diode effects. We achieve this through suitably tailored nanoengineered arrays of nanobar magnets on top of a superconducting thin film. We demonstrate the vital roles of inversion antisymmetry and its breaking in evoking unconventional superconducting effects-a magnetically symmetric diode effect and an odd-parity magnetotransport effect. These effects are non-volatilely controllable through in-situ magnetization switching of the nanobar magnets. Our findings promote the use of antisymmetry (breaking) for initiating unconventional superconducting properties, paving the way for exciting prospects and innovative functionalities in superconducting electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

In-situ tunable giant electrical anisotropy in a grating gated AlGaN/GaN two-dimensional electron gas

Materials with in-plane electrical anisotropy have great potential for designing artificial synaptic devices. However, natural materials with strong intrinsic in-plane electrical anisotropy are rare. We introduce a simple strategy to produce extremely large electrical anisotropy via grating gating of a semiconductor two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) of AlGaN/GaN. We show that periodically modulated electric potential in the 2DEG induces in-plane electrical anisotropy, which is significantly enhanced in a magnetic field, leading to an ultra large electrical anisotropy. This is induced by a giant positive magnetoresistance and a giant negative magnetoresistance under two orthogonally oriented in-plane current flows, respectively. This giant electrical anisotropy is in-situ tunable by tailoring both the grating gate voltage and the magnetic field. Our semiconductor device with controllable giant electrical anisotropy will stimulate new device applications, such as multi-terminal memtransistors and bionic synapses.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Ultra-broadband near-field Josephson microwave microscopy

Advanced microwave technologies constitute the foundation of a wide range of modern sciences, including quantum computing, microwave photonics, spintronics, etc. To facilitate the design of chip-based microwave devices, there is an increasing demand for state-of-the-art microscopic techniques capable of characterizing the near-field microwave distribution and performance. In this work, we integrate Josephson junctions onto a nano-sized quartz tip, forming a highly sensitive microwave mixer on-tip. This allows us to conduct spectroscopic imaging of near-field microwave distributions with high spatial resolution. Leveraging its microwave-sensitive characteristics, our Josephson microscope achieves a broad detecting bandwidth of up to 200 GHz with remarkable frequency and intensity sensitivities. Our work emphasizes the benefits of utilizing the Josephson microscope as a real-time, non-destructive technique to advance integrated microwave electronics.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2023

Thickness-dependent magnetic properties in Pt[CoNi]n multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

We systematically investigated the Ni and Co thickness-dependent perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) coefficient, magnetic domain structures, and magnetization dynamics of Pt(5 nm)/[Co(t_Co nm)/Ni(t_Ni nm)]5/Pt(1 nm) multilayers by combining the four standard magnetic characterization techniques. The magnetic-related hysteresis loops obtained from the field-dependent magnetization M and anomalous Hall resistivity (AHR) \r{ho}_xy found that the two serial multilayers with t_Co = 0.2 and 0.3 nm have the optimum PMA coefficient K_U well as the highest coercivity H_C at the Ni thickness t_Ni = 0.6 nm. Additionally, the magnetic domain structures obtained by Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy also significantly depend on the thickness and K_U of the films. Furthermore, the thickness-dependent linewidth of ferromagnetic resonance is inversely proportional to K_U and H_C, indicating that inhomogeneous magnetic properties dominate the linewidth. However, the intrinsic Gilbert damping constant determined by a linear fitting of frequency-dependent linewidth does not depend on Ni thickness and K_U. Our results could help promote the PMA [Co/Ni] multilayer applications in various spintronic and spin-orbitronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Field-free superconducting diode in a magnetically nanostructured superconductor

A strong superconducting diode effect (SDE) is revealed in a thin superconducting film periodically nanostructured with magnetic dots. The SDE is caused by the current-activated dissipation mitigated by vortex-antivortex pairs (VAPs), which periodically nucleate under the dots, move and annihilate in the superconductor - eventually driving the system to the high-resistive state. Inversing the polarity of the applied current destimulates the nucleation of VAPs, the system remains superconducting up to far larger currents, leading to the pronounced diodic response. Our dissipative Ginzburg-Landau simulations detail the involved processes, and provide reliable geometric and parametric ranges for the experimental realization of such a non-volatile superconducting diode, which operates in absence of any applied magnetic field while being fluxonic by design.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Temperature-driven changes in the Fermi surface of graphite

We report on temperature-dependent size and anisotropy of the Fermi pockets in graphite revealed by magnetotransport measurements. The magnetoresistances obtained in fields along the c-axis obey an extended Kohler's rule, with the carrier density following prediction of a temperature-dependent Fermi energy, indicating a change in the Fermi pocket size with temperature. The angle-dependent magnetoresistivities at a given temperature exhibit a scaling behavior. The scaling factor that reflects the anisotropy of the Fermi surface is also found to vary with temperature. Our results demonstrate that temperature-driven changes in Fermi surface can be ubiquitous and need to be considered in understanding the temperature-dependent carrier density and magnetoresistance anisotropy in semimetals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Crystallizing Kagome artificial spin ice

Artificial spin ices are engineered arrays of dipolarly coupled nanobar magnets. They enable direct investigations of fascinating collective phenomena from their diverse microstates. However, experimental access to ground states in the geometrically frustrated systems has proven difficult, limiting studies and applications of novel properties and functionalities from the low energy states. Here, we introduce a convenient approach to control the competing diploar interactions between the neighboring nanomagnets, allowing us to tailor the vertex degeneracy of the ground states. We achieve this by tuning the length of selected nanobar magnets in the spin ice lattice. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method by realizing multiple low energy microstates in a Kagome artificial spin ice, particularly the hardly accessible long range ordered ground state - the spin crystal state. Our strategy can be directly applied to other artificial spin systems to achieve exotic phases and explore new emergent collective behaviors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Writable spin wave nanochannels in an artificial-spin-ice-mediated ferromagnetic thin film

Magnonics, which employs spin-waves to transmit and process information, is a promising venue for low-power data processing. One of the major challenges is the local control of the spin-wave propagation path. Here, we introduce the concept of writable magnonics by taking advantage of the highly flexible reconfigurability and rewritability of artificial spin ice systems. Using micromagnetic simulations, we show that globally switchable spin-wave propagation and the locally writable spin-wave nanochannels can be realized in a ferromagnetic thin film underlying an artificial pinwheel spin ice. The rewritable magnonics enabled by reconfigurable spin wave nanochannels provides a unique setting to design programmable magnonic circuits and logic devices for ultra-low power applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Extended Kohler$^,$s Rule of Magnetoresistance

A notable phenomenon in topological semimetals is the violation of Kohler$^,$s rule, which dictates that the magnetoresistance $MR$ obeys a scaling behavior of $MR = f(H/ρ_0$), where $MR = [ρ_H-ρ_0]/ρ_0$ and $H$ is the magnetic field, with $ρ_H$ and $ρ_0$ being the resistivity at $H$ and zero field, respectively. Here we report a violation originating from thermally-induced change in the carrier density. We find that the magnetoresistance of the Weyl semimetal, TaP, follows an extended Kohler$^,$s rule $MR = f[H/(n_Tρ_0)]$, with $n_T$ describing the temperature dependence of the carrier density. We show that $n_T$ is associated with the Fermi level and the dispersion relation of the semimetal, providing a new way to reveal information on the electronic bandstructure. We offer a fundamental understanding of the violation and validity of Kohler$^,$s rule in terms of different temperature-responses of $n_T$. We apply our extended Kohler$^,$s rule to BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ to settle a long-standing debate on the scaling behavior of the normal-state magnetoresistance of a superconductor, namely, $MR$ ~ $tan^2θ_H$, where $θ_H$ is the Hall angle. We further validate the extended Kohler$^,$s rule and demonstrate its generality in a semiconductor, InSb, where the temperature-dependent carrier density can be reliably determined both theoretically and experimentally.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Superconducting diode effect via conformal-mapped nanoholes

A superconducting diode is an electronic device that conducts supercurrent and exhibits zero resistance primarily for one direction of applied current. Such a dissipationless diode is a desirable unit for constructing electronic circuits with ultralow power consumption. However, realizing a superconducting diode is fundamentally and technologically challenging, as it usually requires a material structure without a centre of inversion, which is scarce among superconducting materials. Here, we demonstrate a superconducting diode achieved in a conventional superconducting film patterned with a conformal array of nanoscale holes, which breaks the spatial inversion symmetry. We showcase the superconducting diode effect through switchable and reversible rectification signals, which can be three orders of magnitude larger than that from a flux-quantum diode. The introduction of conformal potential landscapes for creating a superconducting diode is thereby proven as a convenient, tunable, yet vastly advantageous tool for superconducting electronics. This could be readily applicable to any superconducting materials, including cuprates and iron-based superconductors that have higher transition temperatures and are desirable in device applications.

cond-mat.supr-con↗