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Physical Review Letters

Devoret, Martinis, and Clarke reply

Michel Devoret, John M. Martinis, John L. Clarke

Published Jul 10, 1989• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A reply to the comment on macroscopic quantum tunneling out of zero- voltage state of acurrent-biased josephson junction is given.It is blieved that the authors data strongly disprove the classical theory and are con- sistent with the quantum theory. (AIP)
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.63.212

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Physical review. B, Condensed matter•Feb 1, 1988•41 citations
Before conclusive evidence of Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling, MQT, was published by Clarke, Devoret and Martinis in 1985, several other groups reported experimental results interpreted as MQT. The first, in chronological order, was in 1980 based on studies done at Leiden University in 1979. This paper looks back at these experiments on low capacitance Niobium point contacts in an rf SQUID, radio-frequency Superconducting Quantum Interference Device, configuration at temperatures between 1 and 4.2 K. The research was inspired by the theoretical predictions by Ivanchenko and Zilberman in 1969 on MQT in current-biased Josephson junctions and by Leggett in 1978 on MQT in closed loops with a superconducting weak link.
We develop a kinetic theory for the real-time response of a quantum particle interacting with a macroscopic reservoir. We discuss the equilibrium and long-time behavior of the solution of the kinetic equation for such a system. In the limit of low damping, the kinetic equation reduces to a master equation. Using the theory to model a Josephson junction loaded with an external impedance, we make contact with the experiments of Clark, Devoret, Esteve, and Martinis. We argue that a stationary solution of the master equation sufficiently describes the experiments, and make detailed comparison with data.