Magnetically-driven colossal supercurrent enhancement in InAs nanowire Josephson junctions

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 14984 - 9
• Main Authors: Tiira, J., Strambini, E., Amado, M., Roddaro, S., San-Jose, P., Aguado, R., Bergeret, F. S., Ercolani, D., Sorba, L., Giazotto, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.04.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 142/126; 639/766/119/1003; 639/925/927/1064; Geometry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magnetic fields; multidisciplinary; Nanowires; Phenomenology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Temperature; Topology; Spain
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14984

The Josephson effect is a fundamental quantum phenomenon where a dissipationless supercurrent is introduced in a weak link between two superconducting electrodes by Andreev reflections. The physical details and topology of the junction drastically modify the properties of the supercurrent and a strong enhancement of the critical supercurrent is expected to occur when the topology of the junction allows an emergence of Majorana bound states. Here we report charge transport measurements in mesoscopic Josephson junctions formed by InAs nanowires and Ti/Al superconducting leads. Our main observation is a colossal enhancement of the critical supercurrent induced by an external magnetic field applied perpendicular to the substrate. This striking and anomalous supercurrent enhancement cannot be described by any known conventional phenomenon of Josephson junctions. We consider these results in the context of topological superconductivity, and show that the observed critical supercurrent enhancement is compatible with a magnetic field-induced topological transition. Physical details of a Josephson junction may drastically modify the properties of supercurrent. Here, the authors observe a colossal enhancement of the critical supercurrent in a Josephson junction subject to a perpendicular magnetic field, indicating topological phase transitions.