Superconducting Diode Effect Due to Chiral Meissner Currents in a Hollow Superconducting Helix

The superconducting diode effect is a key nonreciprocal phenomenon with broad relevance for superconducting electronics. Using time-dependent Ginzburg–Landau simulations, we predict and quantify a superconducting diode effect arising solely from geometric chirality imposed on a conventional superconductor. The helical geometry and magnetic-field-induced screening currents produce inequivalent critical currents for opposite polarities. The diode efficiency reaches a maximum when one current direction first nucleates vortices, revealing a chirality-controlled crossover between screening- and vortex-dominated nonreciprocity. These results establish mesoscopic geometric chirality as a robust mechanism for supercurrent rectification in an achiral superconductor. They suggest an experimentally accessible route toward 3D superconducting diodes for multilevel integrated quantum circuits.