- Editors' Suggestion
- Letter
Unidirectional superconductivity and superconducting diode effect induced by dissipation
Phys. Rev. B 111, L020508 – Published 17 January, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L020508
Abstract
A general principle of condensed matter physics prohibits the electric current in equilibrium. This prevents a zero-resistance state realized solely under a finite electric current, namely unidirectional superconductivity. In this Letter, we propose a setup to realize the unidirectional superconductivity as a nonequilibrium steady state. We focus on the in-plane transport of atomically thin bilayer superconductors lacking in-plane inversion symmetry and introduce dissipation by applying the out-of-plane electric field and current. By analyzing time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations, we show that locally stable steady-state solutions appear only under an in-plane supercurrent when the out-of-plane electric field exceeds a threshold value. Our system also realizes a dissipation-induced superconducting diode effect up to efficiency by purely electric means.