Issue |
EPL
Volume 108, Number 4, November 2014
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 47009 | |
Number of page(s) | 5 | |
Section | Condensed Matter: Electronic Structure, Electrical, Magnetic and Optical Properties | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/108/47009 | |
Published online | 27 November 2014 |
Magnetic anisotropy of critical current in nanowire Josephson junction with spin-orbit interaction
1 Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology - Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ, Delft, The Netherlands
2 Center for Emergent Matter Science, RIKEN Institute - 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Received: 18 August 2014
Accepted: 4 November 2014
We develop and study theoretically a minimal model of semiconductor nanowire Josephson junction that incorporates Zeeman and spin-orbit effects. The DC Josephson current is evaluated from the phase-dependent energies of Andreev levels. Upon changing the applied magnetic field, the critical current oscillates manifesting cusps that signal the transition. Without spin-orbit interaction, the oscillations and positions of cusps are regular and do not depend on the direction of the magnetic field. In the presence of spin-orbit interaction, the magnetic-field dependence of the current becomes anisotropic and irregular. We investigate this dependence in detail and show that it may be used to characterize the strength and direction of the spin-orbit interaction in experiments with nanowires.
PACS: 74.45.+c – Proximity effects; Andreev reflection; SN and SNS junctions / 75.70.Tj – Spin-orbit effects / 73.63.-b – Electronic transport in nanoscale materials and structures
© EPLA, 2014
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