Perfect supercurrent diode efficiency in chiral nanotube-based weak links

Abstract

The supercurrent diode effect (SDE) describes superconducting systems where the magnitude of the superconducting-to-normal state switching current differs for positive and negative current bias. Despite the ubiquity of such diode effects in Josephson devices, the fundamental conditions to observe a diode effect in a Josephson junction and achieve perfect diode efficiency remain unclear. In this work, we analyze the supercurrent diode properties of a chiral nanotube-based Josephson junction within a Ginzburg-Landau theory. We find a diode effect and anomalous phase develop across the junction when a magnetic field is applied parallel to the tube despite the absence of spin-orbit interactions in the system. Unexpectedly, the SDE in the junction is independent of the anomalous phase. Alternatively, we determine a non-reciprocal persistent current that is protected by fluxoid quantization can activate SDE, even in the absence of higher-order pair tunneling processes. We show this new type of SDE can lead to, in principle, a perfect diode efficiency, highlighting how persistent currents can be used to engineer high efficiency supercurrent diodes.