Supercurrents oscillate with quantum interference in nanojunctions

Mikhail Kalenkov of the I.E.Tamm Department of Theoretical Physics, P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute, and Andrei Zaikin of the same institute, alongside National Research University Higher School of Economics, have demonstrated that superconducting nanojunctions with barrier transmissions slightly below unity exhibit pronounced, coherent oscillations of the supercurrent as a function of the Josephson phase. The researchers derived an effective Hamiltonian to model quantum dynamics, then solved a Schrödinger-like equation to obtain wave functions for Andreev levels and evaluate electric current. This work expands understanding beyond full-transmission junctions, offering insights into systems with diffusive barriers and refining existing models of quantum current flow. Researchers Mikhail S. Zaikin of the I.E.Tamm Department of…