Related papers: Quantum tunneling of a single semifluxon in a 0-pi…
We consider a system of two semifluxons of opposite polarity in a 0-pi-0 long Josephson junction, which classically can be in one of two degenerate states: up-down or down-up. When the distance $a$ between the 0-pi boundaries (semifluxon's…
Fluxons in a superconducting loop can be coherently coupled by quantum phase slips occurring at a weak link such as a Josephson junction. If Cooper pair tunneling at the junction occurs through a resonant level, $2\pi$ quantum phase slips…
Non-equilibrium quasiparticles are possible sources for decoherence in superconducting qubits because they can lead to energy decay or dephasing upon tunneling across Josephson junctions (JJs). Here, we investigate the impact of the…
In this paper we discuss solid-state nanoelectronic realizations of Josephson flux qubits with large tunneling amplitude between the two macroscopic states. The latter can be controlled via the height and wells form of the potential…
We fabricated high quality $\Nb/\Al_2\O_3/\Ni_{0.6}\Cu_{0.4}/\Nb$ superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor Josephson tunnel junctions. Depending on the thickness of the ferromagnetic $\Ni_{0.6}\Cu_{0.4}$ layer and on the ambient…
We report the observation of quantum jumps between macroscopic quantum states in a superconducting phase qubit coupled to the two-level systems in the Josephson tunnel junction, and all key features of quantum jumps are confirmed in the…
Quasiparticle excitations adversely affect the performance of superconducting devices in a wide range of applications. They limit the sensitivity of photon detectors in astronomy, the accuracy of current sources in metrology, the cooling…
Low-temperature characters of superconducting devices yield definite probes for different superconducting phenomena. We study the macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a Josephson junction, composed of a single-gap superconductor and a…
Macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) for a single fluxon moving along a long Josephson junction is studied theoretically. To introduce a fluxon-pinning force, we consider inhomogeneities made by modifying thickness of an insulating layer…
Prototype Josephson-junction based qubit coherence times are too short for quantum computing. Recent experiments probing superconducting phase qubits have revealed previously unseen fine splittings in the transition energy spectra. These…
With microwave irradiation, the switching current of a Josephson junction coupled to a microscopic two-level system jumps randomly between two discrete states. We modeled the switching process of the coupled system with quantum jump…
We propose a new qubit consisting of a superconducting ring with two ordinary zero junctions and one ferromagnetic pi junction. In the system, two degenerate stable states appear in the phase space without an external magnetic field because…
It is important to know the decoherence mechanism of a qubit based on Josephson junctions. At low temperatures, as quasiparticle concentration becomes exponentially small, one needs to consider energy transfer from tunneling electrons to…
We predict anomalous atomic-scale 0-pi transitions in a Josephson junction with a ferromagnetic-insulator (FI) barrier. The ground state of such junction alternates between 0- and pi-states when thickness of FI is increasing by a single…
Superconductor-Ferromagnetic-Superconductor (SFS) Josephson junctions are known to exhibit a transition between $\pi$ and 0 states. In this note we find the $\pi-0$ phase diagram of an SFS junction depending on the transparency of an…
The escape of a small current-biased Josephson tunnel junction from the zero voltage state in the presence of weak microwave radiation is investigated experimentally at low temperatures. The measurements of the junction switching current…
Stochastic switching-current distribution in a graphene-based Josephson junction exhibits a crossover from the classical to quantum regime, revealing the macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) of a Josephson phase particle at low temperatures.…
We compute the decoherence caused by $1/f$ fluctuations at low frequency $f$ in the critical current $I_0$ of Josephson junctions incorporated into flux, phase, charge and hybrid flux-charge superconducting quantum bits (qubits). The…
The evidence for macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in Josephson junctions at low temperatures has been reassessed. Swept bias escape distributions have been modeled with an algorithm-based simulation and the results compared with data…
Coupling a quantum particle to a fermionic bath suppresses the particle's amplitude to tunnel, even at zero temperature. While this effect can generally be neglected for gapped baths -- a key feature for superconducting qubits -- , it is…