Perfect superconducting diode effect in altermagnets

Abstract: We investigate intrinsic superconducting diode effect in the unconventional superconducting state of $d$-wave altermagnets. We find large diode efficiencies in the wide-reaching finite-momentum pairing regimes of the phase diagram. Remarkably, even perfect diode efficiency of 100% can be obtained in the presence of an external magnetic field. We attribute the largest efficiencies to competition between multiple zero-momentum (BCS) and finite-momentum superconducting states, which is connected to a topological nodal-to-nodeless transition in altermagnets with magnetic field, making our results applicable to a wide range of altermagnets.