上海科技大学知识管理系统

The superconducting diode effect (SDE), a hallmark of nonreciprocal superconductivity, unveils a rich ore of intriguing physical properties and applications. SDE has been discovered in some unconventional superconductors, but remains underexplored in heterostructures. Here, a van der Waals heterostructure of magnetic Mott insulator alpha-RuCl3 and superconductor NbSe2 is engineered to induce SDE via proximity-driven superconducting correlations. Transport measurements reveal an induced superconducting gap (0.2 meV) in alpha-RuCl3, which is significantly smaller than the intrinsic gap of NbSe2 (1.2 meV). Upon the application of a weak out-of-plane magnetic field below 70 mT, an asymmetry in the critical currents under positive and negative applied currents is observed. In particular, under a positive field of 3 mT, the negative critical current Ic - is 774 mu A, whereas the positive critical current Ic + is 567 mu A, resulting in a maximum superconducting diode efficiency Q of approximate to 15.4%. The field-direction selectivity implicates Ising-type spin-orbit coupling as the symmetry-breaking mechanism. This work establishes a platform for designing SDE in artificially stacked 2D materials, advancing prospects for superconducting spintronics.