Momentum-Space Josephson Effects

The Josephson effect is a prominent phenomenon of quantum supercurrents that has been widely studied in superconductors and superfluids. Typical Josephson junctions consist of two real-space superconductors (superfluids) coupled through a weak tunneling barrier. Here we propose a momentum-space Jose...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2018-03, Vol.120 (12), p.120401-120401, Article 120401
Main Authors: Hou, Junpeng, Luo, Xi-Wang, Sun, Kuei, Bersano, Thomas, Gokhroo, Vandna, Mossman, Sean, Engels, Peter, Zhang, Chuanwei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Josephson effect
Josephson junctions
Momentum
Quantum theory
Superconductor junctions
Superconductors
Superfluidity
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Summary:The Josephson effect is a prominent phenomenon of quantum supercurrents that has been widely studied in superconductors and superfluids. Typical Josephson junctions consist of two real-space superconductors (superfluids) coupled through a weak tunneling barrier. Here we propose a momentum-space Josephson junction in a spin-orbit coupled Bose-Einstein condensate, where states with two different momenta are coupled through Raman-assisted tunneling. We show that Josephson currents can be induced not only by applying the equivalent of "voltages," but also by tuning tunneling phases. Such tunneling-phase-driven Josephson junctions in momentum space are characterized through both full mean field analysis and a concise two-level model, demonstrating the important role of interactions between atoms. Our scheme provides a platform for experimentally realizing momentum-space Josephson junctions and exploring their applications in quantum-mechanical circuits.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.120401