Spontaneous vortex state and ϕ -junction in a superconducting bijunction with a localized spin

Abstract

A Josephson bijunction made of three superconductors connected by a quantum dot is considered in the regime where the dot carries a magnetic moment. In the range of parameters where such a dot, if inserted in a two-terminal Josephson junction, creates a π -shift of the phase, the bijunction forming a triangular unit is frustrated. This frustration is studied within both a phenomenological and a microscopic model. Frustration stabilizes a phase vortex centered on the dot, with two degenerate states carrying opposite vorticities, independently of the direction of the magnetic moment. Embedding the bijunction in a superconducting loop allows one to create a tunable “ ϕ ”-junction whose equilibrium phase can take any value. For large enough inductance, it generates noninteger spontaneous flux. Multiloop configurations are also studied.