Period-doubling in the phase dynamics of a shunted HgTe quantum well Josephson junction

Wei Liu, Stanislau U. Piatrusha, Xianhu Liang, Sandeep Upadhyay, Lena Fürst, Charles Gould, Johannes Kleinlein, Hartmut Buhmann, Martin P. Stehno () and Laurens W. Molenkamp
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Wei Liu: Universität Würzburg
Stanislau U. Piatrusha: Universität Würzburg
Xianhu Liang: Universität Würzburg
Sandeep Upadhyay: Universität Würzburg
Lena Fürst: Universität Würzburg
Charles Gould: Universität Würzburg
Johannes Kleinlein: Universität Würzburg
Hartmut Buhmann: Universität Würzburg
Martin P. Stehno: Universität Würzburg
Laurens W. Molenkamp: Universität Würzburg

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The fractional AC Josephson effect is a discerning property of topological superconductivity in hybrid Josephson junctions. Recent experimental observations of missing odd Shapiro steps and half Josephson frequency emission in various materials have sparked significant debate regarding their potential origin in the effect. In this study, we present microwave emission measurements on a resistively shunted Josephson junction based on a HgTe quantum well. We demonstrate that, with significant spurious inductance in the shunt wiring, the experiment operates in a nonlinear dynamic regime characterized by period-doubling. This leads to additional microwave emission peaks at half of the Josephson frequency, fJ/2, which can mimic the 4π-periodicity of topological Andreev states. The observed current-voltage characteristics and emission spectra are well-described by a simple RCLSJ model. Furthermore, we show that the nonlinear dynamics of the junction can be controlled using gate voltage, magnetic field, and temperature, with our model accurately reproducing these effects without incorporating any topological attributes. Our observations urge caution in interpreting emission at fJ/2 as evidence for gapless Andreev bound states in topological junctions and suggest the appropriate parameter range for future experiments.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58299-z

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