Influence of the Rashba effect on the Josephson current through a superconductor/Luttinger liquid/superconductor tunnel junction

I. V. Krive; A. M. Kadigrobov; R. I. Shekhter; M. Jonson

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.71.214516

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Influence of the Rashba effect on the Josephson current through a superconductor/Luttinger liquid/superconductor tunnel junction

I. V. Krive, A. M. Kadigrobov, R. I. Shekhter, M. Jonson

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.71.214516 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

The Josephson current through a one-dimensional quantum wire with Rashba spin-orbit and electron-electron interactions is calculated. We show that the interplay of Rashba and Zeeman interactions gives rise to an anomalous phase shift in the current-phase relation for the supercurrent. The electron dispersion asymmetry induced by the Rashba interaction in a Luttinger-liquid wire plays a significant role when the electron-electron interaction is not strong and for poorly transmitting junctions. It is shown that for a weak or moderate electron-electron interaction the spectrum of plasmonic modes confined to the normal part of the junction becomes quasi-random in the presence of dispersion asymmetry. The resonance effects which are significant for transport properties of weakly interacting electrons in symmetric junctions survive in the presence of a strong Rashba interaction only for special boundary conditions at normal metal/superconductor interfaces.