Field-free diode effects in one-dimensional superconductor: a complex interplay between Fulde-Ferrell pairing and altermagnetism

Abstract

We investigate the emergence of nonreciprocal dissipationless supercurrents in one-dimension manifested through the superconducting diode effect (SDE) and the Josephson diode effect (JDE) in the absence of any external magnetic field, where inversion symmetry (IS) and time-reversal symmetry (TRS) can be intrinsically broken by spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and altermagnetism (AM), respectively. We investigate Ising and Rashba SOC separately in two models where two-component AM, assembled with crystallographic angle, can lead to qualitatively similar indirect band-gap closing and non-reciprocal supercurrent in a Fulde-Ferrell (FF) superconductor. Interestingly, in the absence of the above SOCs, SDE persists and the sign of efficiency can be altered by tuning the angle only. Parallel spin components with complementary momentum functions, ensuring the breaking of IS and TRS, can induce SDE in the presence of FF pairing. Continuing the analysis in the context of JDE, we explore the interplay between SOCs and AM with the p-wave and Fulde-Ferrell superconductivity in three different setups. The bulk bands contributes to the non-reciprocity in the case of p-wave superconductivity while JDE is dominated by Andreev bound states for FF superconductivity. Importantly, JDE continues to exist due to finite momentum Cooper pair even without AM and SOC unlike the p-wave superconductivity. The sign of JD efficiency can be tuned with angle for p-wave superconductivity while absence of such sign reversal is a hallmark signature of FF superconductivity. Similar to SDE, parallel spin components in conjunction with p-wave superconductivity can lead to JDE that can also be mediated by only FF pairing in the absence of SOC and AM.