Induction of orbital currents and Kapitza stabilization in superconducting circuits with Laguerre-Gaussian microwave beams

We investigate the effects of a Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam on the superconducting state. We show that the vortex angular momentum of a LG beam affects the superconducting state and induces currents. The induction of the current by microwave radiation is illustrated on a Josephson loop and SQUID devices. In particular, we establish that coupling a dc SQUID to the ac magnetic flux of a LG beam can stabilize the <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><a:mi>π</a:mi></a:math> phase in the SQUID. This can happen via developing a global or local minimum in the effective potential at <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><b:mi>π</b:mi></b:math>. In the latter case, this happens via the Kapitza mechanism. Published by the American Physical Society 2024