Tunable planar Josephson junctions driven by time-dependent spin-orbit coupling (Diode effect, φ0 state, and gate-induced GHz SOC changes in circuits with anharmonic CPR)
David Monroe, Mohammad Alidoust, and Igor Zutic
Phys. Rev. Applied (Letter) 18, L031001 (2022). [PDF]
Integrating conventional superconductors with common III-V semiconductors provides a versatile platform to implement tunable Josephson junctions (JJs) and their applications. We propose that with gate-controlled time-dependent spin-orbit coupling, it is possible to strongly modify the current- phase relations and Josephson energy and provide a mechanism to drive the JJ dynamics, even in the absence of any bias current. We show that the transition between stable phases is realized with a simple linear change in the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, while the transition rate can exceed the gate-induced electric field GHz changes by an order of magnitude. The resulting interplay between the constant effective magnetic field and changing spin-orbit coupling has direct implications for superconducting spintronics, controlling Majorana bound states, and emerging qubits. We argue that topological superconductivity, sought for fault-tolerant quantum computing, offers simpler applications in superconducting electronics and spintronics.
