Spontaneous emergence of Josephson junctions in homogeneous rings of single-crystal Sr₂RuO₄

The chiral p-wave order parameter in Sr₂RuO₄ would make it a special case amongst unconventional superconductors. A consequence of this symmetry is the possible existence of superconducting domains of opposite chirality. At the boundary of such domains, the locally suppressed condensate can produce an intrinsic Josephson junction. Here, we provide evidence of such junctions using mesoscopic rings, structured from Sr₂RuO₄ single crystals. Our order parameter simulations predict such rings to host stable domain walls across their arms. This is verified with transport experiments on loops, with a sharp transition at 1.5 K, which show distinct critical current oscillations with periodicity corresponding to the flux quantum. In contrast, loops with broadened transitions at around 3 K are void of such junctions and show standard Little-Parks oscillations. Our analysis demonstrates the junctions are of intrinsic origin and makes a compelling case for the existence of superconducting domains.

Yuuki Yasui, Kaveh Lahabi, Victor Fernández Becerra, Remko Fermin, Muhammad Shahbaz Anwar, Shingo Yonezawa, Takahito Terashima, Milorad V. Milošević, Jan Aarts, Yoshiteru Maeno