Litcius/Paper detail

Supercurrent reversal in ferromagnetic hybrid nanowire Josephson junctions

Davydas Razmadze, Rubén Seoane Souto, Luca Galletti, Andrea Maiani, Yu Liu, Peter Krogstrup, Constantin Schrade, András Gyenis, C. M. Marcus, S. Vaitiekėnas

2023Physical review. B./Physical review. B28 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

We report supercurrent transport measurements in hybrid Josephson junctions comprising semiconducting InAs nanowires with epitaxial ferromagnetic insulator EuS and superconducting Al coatings. The wires display a hysteretic superconducting window close to the coercivity, away from zero external magnetic field. Using a multi-interferometer setup, we measure the current-phase relation of multiple magnetic junctions and find an abrupt switch between $\ensuremath{\pi}$ and 0 phases within the superconducting window. We attribute the $0\text{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\pi}$ transition to the discrete flipping of the EuS domains and provide a qualitative theory showing that a sizable exchange field can polarize the junction and lead to the supercurrent reversal. Both 0 and $\ensuremath{\pi}$ phases can be realized at zero external field by demagnetizing the wire.

Topics & Concepts

SupercurrentJosephson effectNanowireCondensed matter physicsFerromagnetismPi Josephson junctionJosephson energyJosephson phaseSuperconductivityPhysicsOptoelectronicsPhysics of Superconductivity and MagnetismQuantum and electron transport phenomenaAdvancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design