Nanoscale electrothermal-switch superconducting diode for electrically programmable superconducting circuits

  1. Tianyu Li,
  2. Jiong Li,
  3. Chong Li,
  4. Peiyuan Huang,
  5. Nuo-Zhou Yang,
  6. Wuyue Xu,
  7. Wen-Cheng Yue,
  8. Yang-Yang Lyu,
  9. Yihuang Xiong,
  10. Xuecou Tu,
  11. Tao Tao,
  12. Xiaoqing Jia,
  13. Qing-Hu Chen,
  14. Huabing Wang,
  15. Peiheng Wu,
  16. and Yong-Lei Wang
Superconducting diodes enable dissipationless directional transport, yet achieving electrical tunability and scalability remains a major challenge for circuit-level integration. Here,
we demonstrate an electrothermal-switch superconducting diode in which a gate-controlled nanoscale hotspot dynamically breaks inversion symmetry in a superconducting nanowire. This mechanism gives rise to two coexisting nonreciprocal transport regimes-one associated with a nonreciprocal superconducting-to-normal transition and the other with ratchet-like vortex dynamics-both originating from the same electrothermal-switch process. The diode exhibits efficiencies up to 42% and 60% for the two regimes, respectively, and can be electrically switched on, off, or reversed in polarity in situ by applying a small gate current. These capabilities enable programmable superconducting circuits that realize electrically reconfigurable full-wave and half-wave rectification. The lithography-compatible design, high performance, and gate-controlled functionality establish a scalable platform for programmable superconducting electronics and hybrid quantum systems.