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Pressure induced magnetic-field-free superconducting diode effect in NbSe2 flake

Shihao Zhu, Tian Le

Featured August 7, 2026

Original Paper

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Simply

Squeezing a special material called NbSe2 makes electricity flow easily in one direction but not the other, like a one-way street for supercurrents, even without magnets, challenging old science rules.

In depth
The paper demonstrates a novel superconducting diode effect (SDE) in NbSe2 flakes, where pressure alone induces nonreciprocal supercurrents without an external magnetic field. This challenges the conventional understanding that SDE requires explicit time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking, showing that pressure-induced inversion symmetry (IS) breaking, coupled with a cubic () term in the Landau-Ginzburg free energy, is sufficient.

Key Takeaways

  • 1
    The study reports the first observation of a pressure-induced magnetic-field-free SDE in a centrosymmetric material, NbSe2, without heterostructure engineering.
  • 2
    The observed SDE exhibits even-in-B behavior, implying that explicit time-reversal symmetry breaking is not a prerequisite for the effect, challenging prevailing theoretical paradigms.
  • 3
    The authors propose a phenomenological model where pressure-induced inversion symmetry breaking leads to a cubic () term in the Landau-Ginzburg free energy, which is responsible for the nonreciprocal critical currents.

Conceptual Flow

HIGH LEVEL
1
Methodology: How Pressure Creates a One-Way Supercurrent

The scientists squeezed a material to make its internal structure uneven, which then allowed electricity to flow more easily in one direction than the other.

Flat Material
Apply Squeeze
Change Shape
Uneven Material
One-Way Supercurrent
2
Results: A New Way to Make Superconducting Diodes

They found that squeezing the material created a one-way supercurrent without needing a magnet, which is a simpler and new way to build future electronic devices.

Old Way: Need Magnet
Old Way: Complex Setup
Compare to
New Way: Just Squeeze
New Way: Simple Device