Strain-Induced Helical Superconductivity and the Zero-Field Diode Effect

Abstract

Motivated by the strain-induced zero-field superconducting diode effect observed in PbTaSe$_2$, we identify a mechanism by which strain generates nonreciprocal superconducting transport without magnetism or an external magnetic field. Uniaxial strain mixes a dominant $s$-wave order parameter with a subdominant two-component pairing channel and enhances their symmetry-allowed Lifshitz coupling. Beyond a critical strain, this coupling drives a transition into a helical state with spontaneously selected finite Cooper-pair momentum and broken time-reversal symmetry. The resulting diode effect is generically non-monotonic in strain and exhibits distinct responses for currents parallel and perpendicular to the residual mirror plane, consistent with experiment. Our theory predicts that reversing the principal strain switches the diode direction by $90^\circ$, while shear strain rotates it continuously. These results establish strain as a symmetry-selective means of creating, controlling, and diagnosing spontaneous helical superconductivity.