Absence of diode effect in chiral type-I superconductor NbGe2
Abstract Symmetry elegantly governs the fundamental properties and derived functionalities of condensed matter. For instance, realizing the superconducting diode effect (SDE) demands breaking space-inversion and time-reversal symmetries simultaneously. Although the SDE is widely observed in various platforms, its underlying mechanism remains debated, particularly regarding the role of vortices. Here, we systematically investigate the nonreciprocal transport in the chiral type-I superconductor NbGe 2 . Moreover, we induce type-II superconductivity with elevated superconducting critical temperature on the artificial surface by focused ion beam irradiation, enabling control over vortex dynamics in NbGe 2 devices. Strikingly, we observe negligible diode efficiency ( Q < 2%) at low magnetic fields, which rises significantly to Q ~ 50% at high magnetic fields, coinciding with an abrupt increase in vortex creep rate when the superconductivity of NbGe 2 bulk is suppressed. These results unambiguously highlight the critical role of vortex dynamics in the SDE, in addition to the established symmetry rules.
Authors
- Jiangping Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4837-7742)
- Xiaoping Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9853-6038)
- Xiaoli Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6268-2049)
- Takashi Shitaokoshi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3617-2406)
- Wenxin Cheng
- Lihong Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3792-2917)
- Guangtong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9436-3395)
- Fanming Qu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6660-9335)
- Huaixin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7857-2442)
- Jinguang Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4969-1960)
- Jens Hänisch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2757-236X)
- Zouyouwei Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1271-7354)
- Yoshihiro Iwasa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8066-8451)
- Yuki M. Itahashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5420-4397)
- Jie Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7205-5081)
- Kui Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2208-8501)
- Ziyi Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5561-3889)
- Dong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0823-195X)
- Hua Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9518-740X)
- Peiling Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3685-2419)
- Qihong Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6039-0456)
- Li Lü (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2317-1382)
- Yue Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2936-7001)
- Xiaofan Shi
Institutions
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Hefei University (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (JP)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- National Laboratory for Superconductivity (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Physics
- Published
- 2025-02-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-01960-2
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.29
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Beijing Nova Program
- National Key Research and Development Program of China