Pressure induced magnetic-field-free superconducting diode effect in NbSe2 flake
Abstract
The superconducting diode effect (SDE) is a fascinating nonreciprocal phenomenon where the critical current is different for opposite current directions. It is widely believed that realizing SDE requires breaking both inversion symmetry (IS) and time-reversal symmetry (TRS), which are usually achieved via heterostructure engineering and applying external magnetic fields. Here, we report a pressure-induced magnetic-field-free SDE in NbSe2 flakes without any heterostructures. We show that pressure alone breaks the IS, as confirmed by the second harmonic generation. Crucially, upon applying an out-of-plane magnetic field (B), the SDE exhibits even-in-B behavior, implying the absence of explicit TRS breaking. This finding challenges the prevailing theoretical paradigm and demonstrates that a magnetic-field-free SDE can emerge without explicitly breaking TRS. Thereby, our work establishes pressure engineering as a powerful tool for inducing nonreciprocal superconductivity and designing versatile, magnetic-field-free superconducting devices.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2608.03072,
title = {Pressure induced magnetic-field-free superconducting diode effect in NbSe2 flake},
author = {Shihao Zhu and Tian Le and Cuiying Pei and Changhua Li and Yi Liao and Yi Zhao and Lingxiao Zhao and Qi Wang and Juefei Wu and Qilian Zhang and Yueshen Wu and Tonghuan Fu and Xujie Lü and Wenge Yang and Jie Shen and Jun Li and Yulin Chen and Xiao Lin and Wen-Yu He and Yanpeng Qi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.03072},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
10 pages,4 figues