English

Spin-triplet superconductor$-$quantum anomalous Hall insulator$-$spin-triplet superconductor Josephson junctions: $0$-$\pi$ transition, $\phi_{0}$ phase and switch effects

Superconductivity 2021-10-27 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

We study the Josephson effect in spin-triplet superconductor-quantum anomalous Hall insulator-spin-triplet superconductor junctions using the nonequilibrium Green function method. The current-phase difference relations show strong dependence on the orientations of the d\bf{d}-vectors in superconductors. We focus on two d\bf{d}-vector configurations, the parallel one with the left and right d{\bf{d}}-vectors being in the same direction, and the nonparallel one with the left d{\bf{d}}-vector fixed at the zz-axis. For the parallel configuration, the 00-π\pi transition can be realized when one rotates the d{\bf{d}}-vectors from the parallel to the junction plane to the perpendicular direction. The ϕ0\phi_{0} phase with nonzero Josephson current at zero phase difference can be obtained as long as dxdz0{d_{x}}{d_{z}}\ne0. For the nonparallel configuration, the 00-π\pi transition and the ϕ0\phi_{0} phase still exist. The condition for the formation of the ϕ0\phi_{0} phase becomes dRx0d_{Rx}\ne0. The switch effects of the Josephson current are found in both configurations when the d{\bf{d}}-vectors are rotated in the xyxy plane. Furthermore, the symmetries satisfied by the current-phase difference relations are analysed in details by the operations of the time-reversal, mirror-reflections, the spin-rotation and the gauge transformation, which can well explain the above selection rules for the ϕ0\phi_{0} phase. Our results reveal the peculiar Josephson effect between spin-triplet superconductors and the quantum anomalous Hall insulator, which provide helpful phases and effects for the device designs. The distinct current-phase difference relations for different orientations may be used to determine the direction of the d{\bf{d}}-vector in the spin-triplet superconductor.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2110.13331,
  title  = {Spin-triplet superconductor$-$quantum anomalous Hall insulator$-$spin-triplet superconductor Josephson junctions: $0$-$\pi$ transition, $\phi_{0}$ phase and switch effects},
  author = {Qiang Cheng and Qing Yan and Qing-Feng Sun},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.13331},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

9 pages,4 figures