Strongly correlated superfluid order parameters from dc Josephson supercurrents (1908.09696v3)

Abstract: The dc Josephson effect provides a powerful phase-sensitive tool for investigating superfluid order parameters. We report on the observation of dc Josephson supercurrents in strongly interacting fermionic superfluids across a tunnelling barrier in the absence of any applied potential difference. For sufficiently strong barriers, we observe a sinusoidal current-phase relation, in agreement with Josephson's seminal prediction. We map out the zero-resistance state and its breakdown as a function of junction parameters, extracting the Josephson critical current behaviour. By comparing our results with an analytic model, we determine the pair condensate fraction throughout the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer - Bose-Einstein Condensation crossover. Our work suggests that coherent Josephson transport may be used to pin down superfluid order parameters in diverse atomic systems, even in the presence of strong correlations.