Stationary Josephson current as a tool to detect charge density waves in high-TcTc oxides

•Charge density waves affect the angular and temperature dependences of the Josephson current.•Josephson junction serves a differential detector at certain orientations of d-wave superconducting electrodes.•Critical Josephson current depends on the charge-density-wave parameters non-monotonically.

Nonmonotonic and even sign-changing dependences on the temperature and the doping level were predicted for the stationary Josephson tunnel current IcIc between superconductors with d  -wave order parameter symmetry and partial gapping by charge density waves (CDWs). The junction electrodes were considered in the framework of the two-dimensional electron spectrum appropriate to high-TcTc cuprates. The non-trivial behavior can be observed for certain relative electrode orientations. Hence, IcIc-measurements in wide ranges of doping and temperature may serve as an indicator of CDW existence.