Supergap and subgap enhanced currents in asymmetric {S_1FS_2} Josephson junctions

Abstract

We have theoretically studied the supercurrent profiles in three-dimensional normal metal and ferromagnetic Josephson configurations, where the magnitude of the superconducting gaps in the superconducting leads are unequal, i.e., ${\Delta }_1\ne {\Delta }_2$, creating asymmetric $S_{1}N{S}_2$ and $S_{1}F{S}_2$ systems. Our results reveal that by increasing the ratio of the superconducting gaps ${\Delta }_2/{\Delta }_1$, the critical supercurrent in a ballistic $S_{1}N{S}_2$ system can be enhanced by more than $100\%$, and reaches a saturation point, or decays away, depending on the junction thickness, magnetization strength, and chemical potential. The total critical current in a diffusive $S_{1}N{S}_2$ system was found to be enhanced by more than $50\%$ parabolically, and reaches saturation by increasing one of the superconducting gaps. In a uniform ferromagnetic junction, the supercurrent undergoes reversal by increasing ${\Delta }_2/{\Delta }_1>1$. Through decomposing the total supercurrent into its supergap and subgap components, our results illustrate their crucial relative contributions to the Josephson current flow. It was found that the competition of subgap and supergap currents in a $S_{1}F{S}_2$ junction results in the emergence of second harmonics in the current-phase relation. In contrast to a diffusive asymmetric Josephson configuration, the behavior of the supercurrent in a ballistic system with ${\Delta }_2/{\Delta }_1=1$ can be properly described by the subgap current component only, in a wide range of parameter sets, including Fermi level mismatch, magnetization strength, and junction thickness. Interestingly, when ${\Delta }_2/{\Delta }_1>1$, our results have found multiple parameter sets where the total supercurrent is driven by the supergap component. Therefore, our comprehensive study highlights the importance of subgap and supergap supercurrent components in both the ballistic and diffusive regimes.

18 pages, 16 figures

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