English

Thermoelectric AC Josephson effect

Superconductivity 2025-04-03 v1

Abstract

A temperature gradient ΔT{\Delta}T across a Josephson junction induces a thermoelectric current. We predict the AC Josephson effect is activated when this current surpasses the junction's critical current. Our investigation of this phenomenon employs the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory framework in proximity to the critical temperature. Our results indicate that the frequency of the AC current is approximately given by πSΔT/(2Φ0){\pi} S {\Delta} T / (2 {\Phi}_0), where SS represents the Seebeck coefficient and Φ0{\Phi}_0 the magnetic flux quantum and we estimate the frequency be on the range of GHz for Sn up to a THz for larger SS and TcT_c materials. Furthermore, we propose two distinct experimental configurations to observe this effect.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.01884,
  title  = {Thermoelectric AC Josephson effect},
  author = {Olli Mansikkamäki and Francesco Giazotto and Alexander Balatsky},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.01884},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T22:44:09.060Z