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Electrodynamics and fluctuation phenomena in Josephson junctions

D. N. Langenberg

Published Feb 1, 1975• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Studies of several phenomena in superconducting Josephson tunnel junctions are reported, including the Riedel singularity, the Josephson plasma resonance, the quasiparticle-pair-interference current, and methods for improved coupling to external electromagnetic fields. Preliminary results on photon-induced nonequilibrium states in superconductors are described.

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Studies on intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) of cuprate superconductors are reviewed. A system consisting of a few IJJs provides phenomena to test the Josephson phase dynamics and its interaction between adjacent IJJs within a nanometer scale, which is unique to cuprate superconductors. Quasiparticle density of states, which provides direct information on the Cooper-pair formation, is also revealed in the system. In contrast, Josephson plasma emission, which is an electromagnetic wave radiation in the sub-terahertz frequency range from an IJJ stack, arises from the synchronous phase dynamics of hundreds of IJJs coupled globally. This review summarizes a wide range of physical phenomena in IJJ systems having capacitive and inductive couplings with different nanometer and micrometer length scales, respectively.

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Quantum Tunnelling in Small-Capacitance Josephson Junctions in a General Electromagnetic Environment

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The tunnelling of single electrons in small-capacitance normal tunnel junctions has been shown to be influenced by the fluctuations of the electrodynamic environment. We study the effect of an external circuit with arbitrary impedance on the tunnelling of quasi-particles in voltage-driven Josephson junctions and find even more dramatic effects than in normal junctions. We also discuss the influence of the environment on the tunnelling of Cooper pairs at finite temperatures.

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Studies on hybrid superconducting junctions

Cecilia Holmqvist

In the field of nanoelectronics, one seeks to combine quantum mechanical effects with macroscopic entities such as currents in order to find new ways of storing and manipulating information. One possibility to accomplish this is to use the quantum correlations found in superconductors. Teaming superconductors with normal metals and magnetic systems, one can obtain novel correlation and fluctuation effects. \n\nIn the first work of this thesis, we examine how charge correlations in a metallic dot are modified due to the presence of a capacitively coupled superconducting island. It is possible to overcome the Coulomb repulsion between electrons in a hybrid double-dot system consisting of a metallic island coupled capacitively to a Cooper-pair box. The superconducting island S acts as a dynamic gate on the metallic island N and in the strong coupling regime the electric charge of the Cooper pairs in S and their fluctuations are able to overscreen the repulsion between electrons in N. This produces an attractive interaction between two additional electrons in the metallic island and results in a non-monotonous charging curve of the metallic island. \n\nThe second part of the thesis considers how the dynamics of a precessing molecular magnetic moment affects the Josephson current. The precession gives rise to a time-dependent tunnel potential which not only creates different tunneling probabilities for spin-up and spin-down quasiparticles, but also introduces a time-dependent spin-flip term. In particular, we study the effects of the spin-flip term alone on the Josephson current between two spin-singlet superconductors as a function of precession frequency and junction transparency. The system displays a nonequilibrium steady-state solution which depends on the precession frequency of the classical spin.\n\n\n

•Jan 1, 2009•0 citations

Quantum cavity modes in spatially extended Josephson systems

M. V. Fistul, Alexey Vladimirovich Ustinov

We report a theoretical study of the macroscopic quantum dynamics in spatially extended Josephson systems. We focus on a Josephson tunnel junction of finite length placed in an externally applied magnetic field. In such a system, electromagnetic waves in the junction are excited in the form of cavity modes manifested by Fiske resonances, which are easily observed experimentally. We show that in the quantum regime, various characteristics of the junction such as its critical current ${I}_{c}$, width of the critical current distribution $\ensuremath{\sigma}$, escape rate $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ from the superconducting state to a resistive one, and the time-dependent probability $P(t)$ of the escape are influenced by the number of photons excited in the junction cavity. Therefore, these characteristics can be used as a tool to measure the quantum states of photons in the junction, e.g., quantum fluctuations, coherent and squeezed states, entangled Fock states, etc.

arXiv:cond-mat/0612548•Physical Review B•Jun 12, 2007•9 citations
Studies of several phenomena in superconducting Josephson tunnel junctions are reported, including the Riedel singularity, the Josephson plasma resonance, the quasiparticle-pair-interference current, and methods for improved coupling to external electromagnetic fields. Preliminary results on photon-induced nonequilibrium states in superconductors are described.
This manuscript summarizes my research activities devoted to the study of nonequilibrium phenomena in mesoscopic superconducting and semiconducting circuits. The work develops along two directions: the dynamics of metallic Josephson junctions driven out of equilibrium and the interaction between electrons and microwave photons in mesoscopic quantum circuits.The first part investigates diffusive superconductor–normal metal–superconductor Josephson junctions subjected to strong perturbations such as microwave irradiation or stochastic injection of high-energy quasiparticles. These experiments reveal how nonequilibrium excitations modify the Andreev spectrum and the phase dynamics of the junction. The second part addresses electron–photon coupling in mesoscopic circuits across different interaction regimes. Early work focused on semiconductor double quantum dots coupled to low-impedance microwave cavities in the weak coupling regime. Later work involved the fabrication and characterization of high-kineticinductance superconducting materials, allowing the realization of high-impedance resonators and stronger light-matter coupling. Finally, a superconducting tunnel junction coupled to a high-impedance granular aluminum cavity allowed bath engineering based on photo-assisted quasiparticle tunneling, efficient photon-toelectron conversion, and continuous single microwave photon detection.
Advances in circuit quantum electrodynamics have enabled the generation of arbitrary nonclassical microwave states, enabling progress in physics. Here, we present a theoretical study of the electrical current in a Josephson tunnel junction interacting with a nonclassical electromagnetic environment. This allows us to generalize classical transport phenomena like photon-assisted tunneling and Shapiro steps to the quantum regime. We predict that the analysis of the supercurrent in such a setup enables the complete reconstruction of quantum states of the electromagnetic environment, something that is not possible with normal tunnel junctions.
Studies on intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) of cuprate superconductors are reviewed. A system consisting of a few IJJs provides phenomena to test the Josephson phase dynamics and its interaction between adjacent IJJs within a nanometer scale, which is unique to cuprate superconductors. Quasiparticle density of states, which provides direct information on the Cooper-pair formation, is also revealed in the system. In contrast, Josephson plasma emission, which is an electromagnetic wave radiation in the sub-terahertz frequency range from an IJJ stack, arises from the synchronous phase dynamics of hundreds of IJJs coupled globally. This review summarizes a wide range of physical phenomena in IJJ systems having capacitive and inductive couplings with different nanometer and micrometer length scales, respectively.
In the field of nanoelectronics, one seeks to combine quantum mechanical effects with macroscopic entities such as currents in order to find new ways of storing and manipulating information. One possibility to accomplish this is to use the quantum correlations found in superconductors. Teaming superconductors with normal metals and magnetic systems, one can obtain novel correlation and fluctuation effects. \n\nIn the first work of this thesis, we examine how charge correlations in a metallic dot are modified due to the presence of a capacitively coupled superconducting island. It is possible to overcome the Coulomb repulsion between electrons in a hybrid double-dot system consisting of a metallic island coupled capacitively to a Cooper-pair box. The superconducting island S acts as a dynamic gate on the metallic island N and in the strong coupling regime the electric charge of the Cooper pairs in S and their fluctuations are able to overscreen the repulsion between electrons in N. This produces an attractive interaction between two additional electrons in the metallic island and results in a non-monotonous charging curve of the metallic island. \n\nThe second part of the thesis considers how the dynamics of a precessing molecular magnetic moment affects the Josephson current. The precession gives rise to a time-dependent tunnel potential which not only creates different tunneling probabilities for spin-up and spin-down quasiparticles, but also introduces a time-dependent spin-flip term. In particular, we study the effects of the spin-flip term alone on the Josephson current between two spin-singlet superconductors as a function of precession frequency and junction transparency. The system displays a nonequilibrium steady-state solution which depends on the precession frequency of the classical spin.\n\n\n
We report a theoretical study of the macroscopic quantum dynamics in spatially extended Josephson systems. We focus on a Josephson tunnel junction of finite length placed in an externally applied magnetic field. In such a system, electromagnetic waves in the junction are excited in the form of cavity modes manifested by Fiske resonances, which are easily observed experimentally. We show that in the quantum regime, various characteristics of the junction such as its critical current Ic{I}_{c}Ic​, width of the critical current distribution $\ensuremath{\sigma}$, escape rate $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ from the superconducting state to a resistive one, and the time-dependent probability P(t)P(t)P(t) of the escape are influenced by the number of photons excited in the junction cavity. Therefore, these characteristics can be used as a tool to measure the quantum states of photons in the junction, e.g., quantum fluctuations, coherent and squeezed states, entangled Fock states, etc.