Magnetically-driven colossal supercurrent enhancement in InAs nanowire Josephson junctions

Abstract

The Josephson effect is a fundamental quantum phenomenon consisting in the appearance of a dissipationless supercurrent in a weak link between two superconducting (S) electrodes. While the mechanism leading to the Josephson effect is quite general, i.e., Andreev reflections at the interface between the S electrodes and the weak link, the precise physical details and topology of the junction drastically modify the properties of the supercurrent. Specifically, a strong enhancement of the critical supercurrent $I_C$ is expected to occur when the topology of the junction allows the emergence of Majorana bound states. Here we report charge transport measurements in mesoscopic Josephson junctions formed by InAs nanowires and Ti/Al superconducting leads. Our main observation is a colossal enhancement of the critical supercurrent induced by an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the substrate. This striking and anomalous supercurrent enhancement cannot be ascribed to any known conventional phenomenon existing in Josephson junctions including, for instance, Fraunhofer-like diffraction or a $\pi$-state behavior. We also investigate an unconventional model related to inhomogenous Zeeman field caused by magnetic focusing, and note that it can not account for the observed behaviour. Finally, we consider these results in the context of topological superconductivity, and show that the observed $I_C$ enhancement is compatible with a magnetic field-induced topological transition of the junction.

9 pages, 4 color figures

References in corpus (22)

• Signatures of Majorana fermions in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowire devices
• Evidence of Majorana fermions in an Al - InAs nanowire topological superconductor
• Exponential Protection of Zero Modes in Majorana Islands
• Tunable Supercurrent Through Semiconductor Nanowires
• $4\pi$-periodic Josephson supercurrent in HgTe-based topological Josephson junctions
• Ballistic Majorana nanowire devices
• A Majorana smoking gun for the superconductor-semiconductor hybrid topological system
• Anomalous Josephson effect induced by spin-orbit interaction and Zeeman effect in semiconductor nanowires
• Edge-mode Superconductivity in a Two Dimensional Topological Insulator
• Non-sinusoidal current-phase relationship in Josephson junctions from the 3D topological insulator HgTe
• Magnetic Interference Patterns and Vortices in Diffusive SNS junctions
• Magnetic field enhancement of superconductivity in ultra-narrow wires
• Supercurrent and multiple Andreev reflections in an InSb nanowire Josephson junction
• Density of states and supercurrent in diffusive SNS junctions: role of nonideal interfaces and spin-flip scattering
• Parity independence of the zero-bias conductance peak in a nanowire based topological superconductor-quantum dot hybrid device
• Approaching a topological phase transition in Majorana nanowires
• Pb/InAs nanowire Josephson junction with high critical current and magnetic flux focusing
• InAs nanowire hot-electron Josephson transistor
• Hybrid InAs nanowire-vanadium proximity SQUID
• Electrostatic tailoring of magnetic interference in quantum point contact ballistic Josephson junctions
• Mesoscopic Josephson junctions with switchable current-phase relation
• Origin of Hysteresis in a Proximity Josephson Junction

Cited by in corpus (41)

• From Andreev to Majorana bound states in hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowires
• A Josephson phase battery
• Majorana splitting from critical currents in Josephson junctions
• Majorana nanowires for topological quantum computation
• A perspective on semiconductor-based superconducting qubits
• Theory of Majorana zero modes in unconventional superconductors
• Supercurrent interference in few-mode nanowire Josephson junctions
• Enhancing the Josephson diode effect with Majorana bound states
• Nonlocal thermoelectricity in a Cooper-pair splitter
• Distinguishing trivial and topological zero energy states in long nanowire junctions
• π and 4π Josephson Effects Mediated by a Dirac Semimetal
• Vectorial control of the spin-orbit interaction in suspended InAs nanowires
• Signatures of topological phase transitions in Josephson current-phase discontinuities
• Quantum Hall Effect in a Josephson Junction
• Non-linear critical current thermal response of an asymmetric Josephson tunnel junction
• Even-odd effect and Majorana states in full-shell nanowires
• Recent progress on Majorana in semiconductor-superconductor heterostructures--Engineering and detection
• Majorana bound states in hybrid 2D Josephson junctions with ferromagnetic insulators
• Non-Hermitian phase-biased Josephson junctions
• Zero-frequency supercurrent susceptibility signatures of trivial and topological zero-energy states in nanowire junctions
• Majorana oscillations and parity crossings in semiconductor-nanowire-based transmon qubits
• Superconducting islands with semiconductor-nanowire-based topological Josephson junctions
• Supercurrent through a spin-split quasi-ballistic point contact in an InAs nanowire
• Characterization of Shapiro steps in the presence of a 4π-periodic Josephson current
• Hallmarks of non-trivial topology in Josephson junctions based on oxide nanochannels
• Probing Topological Superconductivity of oxide nanojunctions using fractional Shapiro steps
• Anomalous modulation of Josephson radiation in nanowire-based Josephson junctions
• Quasiparticle trapping at vortices producing Josephson supercurrent enhancement
• Time reversal symmetry breaking and zero magnetic field Josephson diode effect in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2-mediated asymmetric SQUIDs
• Long- to short-junction crossover and field-reentrant critical current in Al/Ag-nanowires/Al Josephson junctions
• InAs on Insulator: A New Platform for Cryogenic Hybrid Superconducting Electronics
• Phase-Controllable Nonlocal Spin Polarization in Proximitized Nanowires
• Evidence of Josephson coupling in a few-layer black phosphorus planar Josephson junction
• Topological Josephson Bifurcation Amplifier: Semiclassical theory
• Zero-dimensional topologically nontrivial state in a superconducting quantum dot
• Anomalous negative magnetoresistance in quantum-dot Josephson junctions with Kondo correlations
• Correspondence between bulk equilibrium spin-currents and edge spin accumulation in wires with spin-orbit coupling
• Josephson Field Effect Transistors with InAs on Insulator and High Permittivity Gate Dielectrics
• Investigation of InAs based devices for topological applications
• Resonator induced quantum phase transitions in a hybrid Josephson junction
• Enhancement of Josephson Supercurrent in a $\pi$-Junction state by Chiral Antiferromagnetism