Nonreciprocal microwave transmission through a long Josephson junction in the flux-flow regime is studied analytically and numerically within the framework of the perturbed sine-Gordon model. We demonstrate that the maximum attenuation of the transmitted power occurs when the direction of the flux flow is opposite to the direction of the microwave propagation. This attenuation is nonreciprocal with respect to the flux-flow direction and can be enhanced by increasing the system length and proper impedance matching of the junction ends to external transmission line.
The computer simulations of fluctuational dynamics of the long overlap Josephson junction in the frame of the sine-Gordon model with a white noise source have been performed. It has been demonstrated that for the case of constant critical current density the mean life time (MLT) of superconductive state increases with increasing the junctions length and for homogeneous bias current distribution MLT tends to a constant, while for inhomogeneous current distribution MLT quickly decreases after approaching of a few Josephson lengths. The mean voltage versus junction length behaves inversely in comparison with MLT.
We study the Josephson current through a ferromagnetic trilayer, both in the diffusive and clean limits. For colinear (parallel or antiparallel) magnetizations in the layers, the Josephson current is small due to short range proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet structures. For non colinear magnetizations, we determine the conditions for the Josephson current to be dominated by another contribution originating from long range triplet proximity effect.
Fractional Josephson vortices carry a magnetic flux Phi, which is a fraction of the magnetic flux quantum Phi_0 ~ 2.07x10^{-15} Wb. Their properties are very different from the properties of the usual integer fluxons. In particular, fractional vortices are pinned and have an oscillation eigenfrequency which is expected to be within the Josephson plasma gap. Using microwave spectroscopy, we investigate the dependence of the eigenfrequency of a fractional Josephson vortex on its magnetic flux $Phi$ and on the bias current. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.
Transport is called nonreciprocal when not only the sign, but also the absolute value of the current, depends on the polarity of the applied voltage. It requires simultaneously broken inversion and time-reversal symmetries, e.g., by the interplay of spin-orbit coupling and magnetic field. So far, observation of nonreciprocity was always tied to resistivity, and dissipationless nonreciprocal circuit elements were elusive. Here, we engineer fully superconducting nonreciprocal devices based on highly-transparent Josephson junctions fabricated on InAs quantum wells. We demonstrate supercurrent rectification far below the transition temperature. By measuring Josephson inductance, we can link nonreciprocal supercurrent to the asymmetry of the current-phase relation, and directly derive the supercurrent magnetochiral anisotropy coefficient for the first time. A semi-quantitative model well explains the main features of our experimental data. Nonreciprocal Josephson junctions have the potential to become for superconducting circuits what $pn$-junctions are for traditional electronics, opening the way to novel nondissipative circuit elements.
We study static and dynamical properties of fluxons in a long annular Josephson junction (JJ) with a current injected at one point and collected back at a close point. Uniformly distributed dc bias current is applied too. We demonstrate that, in the limit of the infinitely small size of the current dipole, the critical value of the bias current density, above which static phase distributions do not exist, that was recently found (in the Fraunhofers analytical form) for the annular JJ with the length much smaller than the Josephson penetration length, is valid irrespective of the junctions length, including infinitely long JJs. In a long annular JJ, the dipole generates free fluxon(s) if the bias current density exceeds the critical value. For long JJs, we also find another critical value (in an analytical form too), which is always slightly smaller than the Fraunhofer value, except for points where both values vanish. The static phase configuration which yields the new critical value is based on an unstable fluxon-antifluxon bound state, therefore it will probably not manifest itself in the usual (classical) regime. However, it provides for a dominating instanton configuration for tunnel birth of a free fluxon, hence it is expected to determine a quantum-birth threshold for fluxons at ultra-low temperatures. We also consider the interaction of a free fluxon with the complex consisting of the current dipole and antifluxon pinned by it. A condition for suppression of the net interaction force, which makes the long JJ nearly homogeneous for the free fluxon, is obtained in an analytical form. The analytical results are compared with numerical simulations.