Superconducting Diode Effect due to Chiral Meissner Currents in a Hollow Superconducting Helix
Abstract
The superconducting diode effect (SDE) is a key nonreciprocal phenomenon with broad relevance for superconducting electronics. Using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations, we predict and quantify a superconducting diode effect arising solely from geometric chirality imposed to a conventional superconductor. The helical geometry and magnetic-field-induced screening currents produce inequivalent critical currents for opposite polarities. The diode efficiency reaches a maximum when one current direction first nucleates vortices, revealing a chirality-controlled crossover between screening- and vortex-dominated nonreciprocity. These results establish mesoscopic geometric chirality as a robust mechanism for supercurrent rectification in an achiral superconductor. They suggest an experimentally accessible route towards 3D superconducting diodes for multi-level integrated quantum circuits.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.15304,
title = {Superconducting Diode Effect due to Chiral Meissner Currents in a Hollow Superconducting Helix},
author = {Axel J. M. Deenen and Dirk Grundler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.15304},
year = {2025}
}