Out-of-equilibrium nonlinear model of thermoelectricity in superconducting tunnel junctions
Phys. Rev. B 112, 184509 – Published 10 November, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qfng-sf44
Abstract
Thermoelectricity in superconducting tunnel junctions has always been studied under the hypothesis of equilibrium between the cold side and the thermal bath, usually in the linear regime. We define a more complete out-of-equilibrium nonlinear numerical model that reduces to the equilibrium linear model in the low-power limit. We find that the linear model does not correctly describe the behavior of superconducting tunnel junctions for parameters that are reasonable in practical experimental setups. Subsequently, we present the qualitative and quantitative differences between the models, discovering that for high power, the junction saturates and then inverts its behavior. Finally, we also clarify the difference between linear and nonlinear thermoelectricity and devise a new criterion to find nonlinear thermoelectricity in the parameter space.
