Nonreciprocal superconducting NbSe2 antenna

Enze Zhang; Xian Xu; Yi-Chao Zou; Linfeng Ai; Xiang Dong; Ce Huang; Pengliang Leng; Shanshan Liu; Yuda Zhang; Zehao Jia; Xinyue Peng; Minhao Zhao; Yunkun Yang; Zihan Li; Hangwen Guo; Sarah J Haigh; Naoto Nagaosa; Jian Shen; Faxian Xiu

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19459-5

Nonreciprocal superconducting NbSe₂ antenna

Nat Commun. 2020 Nov 6;11(1):5634. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19459-5.

Authors

Enze Zhang^{1

2}, Xian Xu³, Yi-Chao Zou⁴, Linfeng Ai^{1

2}, Xiang Dong¹, Ce Huang^{1

2}, Pengliang Leng^{1

2}, Shanshan Liu^{1

2}, Yuda Zhang^{1

2}, Zehao Jia^{1

2}, Xinyue Peng^{1

2}, Minhao Zhao^{1

2}, Yunkun Yang^{1

2}, Zihan Li^{1

2}, Hangwen Guo², Sarah J Haigh⁴, Naoto Nagaosa^{5

6}, Jian Shen^{1

2

7

8}, Faxian Xiu^{9

10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
² Institute for Nanoelectronic Devices and Quantum Computing, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
³ School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
⁴ Department of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
⁵ Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan.
⁶ RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.
⁷ Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
⁸ Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, Shanghai, 201315, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China. Faxian@fudan.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Institute for Nanoelectronic Devices and Quantum Computing, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China. Faxian@fudan.edu.cn.
¹¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China. Faxian@fudan.edu.cn.
¹² Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, Shanghai, 201315, China. Faxian@fudan.edu.cn.

Abstract

The rise of two-dimensional (2D) crystalline superconductors has opened a new frontier of investigating unconventional quantum phenomena in low dimensions. However, despite the enormous advances achieved towards understanding the underlying physics, practical device applications like sensors and detectors using 2D superconductors are still lacking. Here, we demonstrate nonreciprocal antenna devices based on atomically thin NbSe₂. Reversible nonreciprocal charge transport is unveiled in 2D NbSe₂ through multi-reversal antisymmetric second harmonic magnetoresistance isotherms. Based on this nonreciprocity, our NbSe₂ antenna devices exhibit a reversible nonreciprocal sensitivity to externally alternating current (AC) electromagnetic waves, which is attributed to the vortex flow in asymmetric pinning potentials driven by the AC driving force. More importantly, a successful control of the nonreciprocal sensitivity of the antenna devices has been achieved by applying electromagnetic waves with different frequencies and amplitudes. The device's response increases with increasing electromagnetic wave amplitude and exhibits prominent broadband sensing from 5 to 900 MHz.