Related papers: Shot-noise-driven escape in hysteretic Josephson j…
Schmid predicted that a single Josephson junction coupled to a resistive environment undergoes a quantum phase transition to an insulating phase when the shunt resistance $R$ exceeds the resistance quantum $h/(4 e^ 2)$. Recent measurements…
The measurement of the escape time of a Josephson junction might be used to detect the presence of a sinusoidal signal embedded in noise when standard signal processing tools can be prohibitive. We show that the prescriptions for the…
Inspired by a recent experiment, we study the influence of thermal fluctuations on the $I$-$V$ characteristics of a Josephson junction, coupled to a strongly resistive environment. We obtain analytical results in the limit where the…
We discuss some of the basic theoretical aspects of current-carrying states in superconducting superlattices with tunnel barriers in the mesoscopic regime, when the superconducting layer thickness is small compared to the BCS coherence…
We study occupation of certain regions of phase space of an asymmetric superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) driven by thermal noise, subjected to an external ac current and threaded by a constant magnetic flux. Thermally…
Current fluctuations related to the discreteness of charge passing through small constrictions are termed shot noise. This unavoidable noise provides both advantages - being a direct measurement of the transmitted particles' charge, and…
There is a wide recognition that Josephson-junction-like structures intrinsic to the layered cuprate high temperature superconductors offer an attractive stage for exploiting possible applications to new quantum technologies. On the other…
Based on experimental data, we propose a model to evaluate the energy dissipated during quantum tunneling processes in solid-state junctions. This model incorporates a nonlinear friction force expressed in the general form f(x)={\gamma}…
We consider a Josephson contact mediated by 1D chiral modes on a surface of a 3D topological insulator with superimposed superconducting and magnetic layers. The system represents an interferometer in which 1D chiral Majorana modes on the…
We observe a subharmonic gap sturucture (SGS) and the Josephson effect in superconducting scanning tunneling microscope junctions with resistances below 100 kOhm. The magnitude of the n=2 SGS is shown to scale with the square of the…
We study the dynamics of the Mott insulator-superfluid quantum phase transition in a periodic 1D array of Josephson junctions. We show that crossing the critical point diabatically i.e. at a finite rate with a quench time $\tau_Q$ induces…
The escape probability out of the superconducting state of a hysteretic DC-SQUID has been measured at different values of the applied magnetic flux. At low temperature, the escape current and the width of the probability distribution are…
We generalize the string method, originally designed for the study of thermally activated rare events, to the calculation of quantum tunneling rates. This generalization is based on the analogy between quantum mechanics and statistical…
Switching current distributions have for decades been an indispensable diagnostic tool for studying Josephson junctions. They have played a key role in testing the conjecture of a macroscopic quantum state in junctions at millikelvin…
We demonstrate Josephson tunneling in vacuum tunnel junctions formed between a superconducting scanning tunneling microscope tip and a Pb film, for junction resistances in the range 50-300 k$\Omega$. We show that the superconducting phase…
We have theoretically investigated macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) and the influence of nodal quasiparticles and zero energy bound states (ZES) on MQT in s-wave/d-wave hybrid Josephson junctions. In contrast to d-wave/d-wave junctions,…
We present a simple microscopic model to show how fluctuating two--level systems in the Josephson junction tunnel barrier of thickness $L$ can modify the potential energy of the barrier and produce critical current noise spectra. We find…
We revisit the Coulomb blockade of the tunnel junction with conductance much smaller than $e^2/\hbar$. We study the junction with capacitance $C$, embedded in an Ohmic electromagnetic environment modelled by a series resistance $R$ which…
A Josephson tunnel junction transistor based on quasiparticle injection is proposed. Its operation relies on the manipulation of the electron distribution in one of the junction electrodes. This is accomplished by injecting quasiparticle…
We consider the quantum dynamics of excitations in a system of two capacitively coupled Josephson junctions. Quantum breather states are found in the middle of the energy spectrum of the confined nonescaping states of the system. They are…