  Our understanding of large-scale magnetic fields in stellar radiative zones
remains fragmented and incomplete. Such magnetic fields, which must be produced
by some form of dynamo mechanism, are thought to dominate angular-momentum
transport, making them crucial to stellar evolution. A major difficulty is the
effect of stable stratification, which generally suppresses dynamo action. We
explore the effects of stable stratification on mean-field dynamo theory with a
particular focus on a non-helical large-scale dynamo (LSD) mechanism known as
the magnetic shear-current effect. We find that the mechanism is robust to
increasing stable stratification as long as the original requirements for its
operation are met: a source of shear and non-helical magnetic fluctuations
(e.g. from a small-scale dynamo). Both are plausibly sourced in the presence of
differential rotation. Our idealized direct numerical simulations, supported by
mean-field theory, demonstrate the generation of near equipartition large-scale
toroidal fields. Additionally, a scan over magnetic Reynolds number shows no
change in the growth or saturation of the LSD, providing good numerical
evidence of a dynamo mechanism resilient to catastrophic quenching, which has
been an issue for helical dynamos. These properties -- the absence of
catastrophic quenching and robustness to stable stratification -- make the
mechanism a plausible candidate for generating in-situ large-scale magnetic
fields in stellar radiative zones.
