KTaO<sub>3</sub>-Based Supercurrent Diode.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41562371.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c05590 and PMC identifier 12964540.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The supercurrent diode effect (SDE), characterized by nonreciprocal critical currents, represents a promising building block for future dissipationless electronics and quantum circuits. Realizing SDE requires breaking both time-reversal and inversion symmetry in the device. Here we use conductive atomic force microscope (c-AFM) lithography to pattern reconfigurable superconducting weak links (WLs) at the LaAlO<sub>3</sub>/KTaO<sub>3</sub> (LAO/KTO) interface. By deliberately engineering the WL geometry at the nanoscale, we realize SDE in these devices in the presence of modest out-of-plane magnetic fields. The SDE polarity can be reversed by simply changing the WL position, and the rectification efficiency reaches up to 13% under optimal magnetic field conditions. Time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations reveal that the observed SDE originates from asymmetric vortex motion in the inversion-symmetry-breaking device geometry. This demonstration of SDE in the LAO/KTO system establishes a versatile platform for investigating and engineering vortex dynamics, forming the basis for engineered quantum circuit elements.