dc Josephson Effect in Altermagnets

Understand

The ability of magnetic materials to modify superconducting systems is an active research area for possible applications in thermoelectricity, quantum sensing, and spintronics.

• We consider the fundamental properties of the Josephson effect in a third class of magnetic materials beyond ferromagnets and antiferromagnets: altermagnets.
• We show that despite having no net magnetization, altermagnets induce $0$-$\pi$ oscillations.
• The decay length and oscillation period of the Josephson coupling are qualitatively different from ferromagnetic junctions and depend on the crystallographic orientation of the altermagnet.