Microwave-Induced Thermal Escape in Josephson Junctions
Niels Grønbech‐Jensen, Maria Gabriella Castellano, F. Chiarello +5 more
We investigate, by experiments and numerical simulations, thermal activation processes of Josephson tunnel junctions in the presence of microwave radiation. When the applied signal resonates with the Josephson plasma frequency oscillations, the switching current may become multivalued in a temperature range far exceeding the classical to quantum crossover temperature. Plots of the switching currents traced as a function of the applied signal frequency show very good agreement with the functional forms expected from Josephson plasma frequency dependencies on the bias current. Throughout, numerical simulations of the corresponding thermally driven classical Josephson junction model show very good agreement with the experimental data.
arXiv:cond-mat/0403245•Physical Review Letters•Aug 30, 2004•55 citations