Nanoscale electrothermal-switch superconducting diode for electrically programmable superconducting circuits
Abstract
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.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.12313,
title = {Nanoscale electrothermal-switch superconducting diode for electrically programmable superconducting circuits},
author = {Tianyu Li and Jiong Li and Chong Li and Peiyuan Huang and Nuo-Zhou Yang and Wuyue Xu and Wen-Cheng Yue and Yang-Yang Lyu and Yihuang Xiong and Xuecou Tu and Tao Tao and Xiaoqing Jia and Qing-Hu Chen and Huabing Wang and Peiheng Wu and Yong-Lei Wang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.12313},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
To appear in Nano Letters