Quantum superconducting diode effect with perfect efficiency above liquid-nitrogen temperature

Nature Physics (2025)Cite this article The superconducting diode is a device that allows supercurrent to flow in one direction but not the other. Usually, the state that does not allow supercurrent has no Cooper pairs. Here we report a quantized version of the superconducting diode that operates solely between Cooper-paired states. This type of quantum superconducting diode takes advantage of quantized Shapiro steps for digitized output. The device consists of twisted high-temperature cuprate superconductors and exhibits the following characteristics. First, we show that a non-reciprocal diode behaviour can be initiated by training with current pulses without applying an external magnetic field. Then, we demonstrate perfect diode efficiency under microwave irradiation above liquid-nitrogen temperature. Lastly, the quantized nature of the output offers high resilience against input noise. These features open up opportunities to develop practical dissipationless quantum circuits.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutSource data are provided with this paper. These data are also available via the Science Data Bank at https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.29370.Ando, F. et al. Observation of superconducting diode effect. Nature 584, 373–376 (2020).Article Google Scholar Hu, J., Wu, C. & Dai, X. Proposed design of a Josephson diode. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 067004 (2007).Article ADS Google Scholar Jiang, K. & Hu, J. Superconducting diode effects. Nat. Phys. 18, 1145–1146 (2022).Article Google Scholar Wu, H. et al. The field-free Josephson diode in a van der Waals heterostructure. Nature 604, 653–656 (2022).Article ADS Google Scholar Nadeem, M., Fuhrer, M. S. & Wang, X. The superconducting diode effect. Nat. Rev. Phys. 5, 558–577 (2023).Article Google Scholar Pal, B. et al. Josephson diode effect from Cooper pair momentum in a topological semimetal. Nat. Phys. 18, 1228–1233 (2022).Article Google Scholar Le, T. et al. Superconducting diode effect and interference patterns in kagome CsV3Sb5. Nature 630, 64–69 (2024).Article ADS Google Scholar Holmes, D. S., Ripple, A. L. & Manheimer, M. A. Energy-efficient superconducting computing—power budgets and requirements. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 23, 1701610 (2013).Article ADS Google Scholar Soloviev, I. I. et al. Beyond Moore’s technologies: operation principles of a superconductor alternative. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 8, 2689–2710 (2017).Article Google Scholar Semenov, V. K., Polyakov, Y. A. & Tolpygo, S. K. Very large scale integration of Josephson-junction-based superconductor random access memories. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 29, 1–9 (2019).

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GZB20240294 (H.W.) and 2024M751287 (H.W.)).These authors contributed equally: Heng Wang, Yuying Zhu.Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, Beijing, ChinaHeng Wang, Yuying Zhu, Qi-Kun Xue & Ding ZhangState Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics and Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaHeng Wang, Zhonghua Bai, Qi-Kun Xue & Ding ZhangSouthern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, ChinaHeng Wang & Qi-Kun XueHefei National Laboratory, Hefei, ChinaYuying Zhu, Zhaozheng Lyu & Ding ZhangBeijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaZhaozheng Lyu, Jiangang Yang, Lin Zhao & X. J. ZhouFrontier Science Center for Quantum Information, Beijing, ChinaQi-Kun Xue & Ding ZhangRIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, Wako, Saitama, JapanDing ZhangSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarH.W. and Y.Z. fabricated the devices. H.W., Y.Z. and D.Z. carried out the transport measurements with technical assistance from Z.L. J.Y., L.Z. and X.J.Z. grew the single crystals. H.W. carried out the theoretical modelling. H.W., Y.Z., D.Z. and Q.-K.X. analysed the data and wrote the paper with the input from Z.B. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.Correspondence to Yuying Zhu, Qi-Kun Xue or Ding Zhang.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Physics thanks Chunyu Guo, Jedediah Pixley and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary Figs. 1–32, Notes 1–9 and Tables 1 and 2.Data used for plotting Fig. 2.Data used for plotting Fig. 3.Data used for plotting Fig. 4.Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsWang, H., Zhu, Y., Bai, Z. et al. Quantum superconducting diode effect with perfect efficiency above liquid-nitrogen temperature. Nat. Phys. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03098-yDownload citationReceived: 02 January 2025Accepted: 15 October 2025Published: 28 November 2025Version of record: 28 November 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03098-yAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative