Nonreciprocal microwave responses in Nb/Au/NbSe2 Josephson junctions.

The nonreciprocal Josephson junction, the Josephson diode, opens a door for superconducting circuit technology. Here, we report on nonreciprocal behaviors in Nb/Au/NbSe2 Josephson junctions. The strong asymmetry could be seen in the current–voltage characteristics, which most likely arises from time symmetry breaking due to Abrikosov vortices, indicated by an asymmetric Fraunhofer pattern. The nonreciprocal microwave responses are systematically investigated compared to a numerical simulation based on a resistively and capacitively shunted junction model, which could well capture the asymmetric behaviors and rule out some artifacts such as other parasitic Josephson-like structures. Based on the nonreciprocal microwave responses, we put forward a proposal for a switchable Josephson diode controlled by an external microwave, which might provide an opportunity for next-generation microwave-related superconducting circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]