Diamond-shaped superconducting interference patterns in NbTiN weak-link Josephson junctions under in-plane magnetic fields
The application of in-plane magnetic fields to Josephson junctions enables fundamental exploration of quantum phenomena, including Zeeman-driven 0-<i>π</i>transitions and planar topological superconductivity. However, intrinsic orbital effects arising from nanoscale rippled geometries in practical devices can dominate phase interference signatures, complicating their interpretation. Here, we experimentally probe superconducting interference in NbTiN weak-link Josephson junctions under combined perpendicular and in-plane magnetic fields. The critical supercurrent reveals a distinct diamond-shaped interference pattern, with nodes progressively opening and evolving into V-shaped features, reminiscent of suppression-recovery patterns associated with 0-<i>π</i>transitions. We theoretically analyze the interplay between orbital effects from rippled geometries and non-uniform supercurrent density distributions, demonstrating that their synergistic interaction could reproduce the experimentally observed interference evolution. Our findings elucidate how geometric imperfections and current inhomogeneity cooperatively reshape phase interference, providing critical insights into orbital-dominated phenomena in Josephson systems.
Authors
- Jianfei Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4728-3070)
- Kui Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9348-7943)
- Guangtong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9436-3395)
- Jiangbo He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5608-937X)
- Fanming Qu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6660-9335)
- Linfeng Tu
- Zhaozheng Lyu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9608-8048)
- Yunteng Shi
- Zhongmou Jia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9629-5037)
- Lü Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8054-7406)
- Jie Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-9541)
- Yiwen Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9159-5649)
- Mingli Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0052-0503)
- Huaiyuan Liu
- Ruiyang Jiang
- Shang Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8433-8599)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (CN)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Physics Condensed Matter
- Published
- 2025-05-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/addd56
- Primary Topic
- Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Key Research and Development Program of China