We have been building devices with two Josephson junctions coupled together by a transmission line or waveguide. We have found that these devices can exhibit a type of bistable behavior not seen before in other Josephson devices. The observed behavior appears to have certain similarities to optical multistability.
We present a theoretical study of a type of Josephson device, the so-called ``optical Josephson junction'' [Y. Shin et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 170402 (2005).]. In this device, two condensates are optically coupled through a waveguide by a pair of Bragg beams. This optical Josephson junction differs from the usual Josephson junction where condensates are weakly coupled by tunneling through a barrier. We discuss the use of this optical Josephson junction, for making precision measurements.
The authors report on results of phase-locking experiments in a system composed of two long Josephson junctions oscillating at millimeter-wave frequencies. The effects of the coherent behavior of the two junctions are visible on the current-voltage characteristic of the long junctions and in the power enhancement effects observed on the current-voltage characteristic of a detector junction. It is shown that is possible to couple two long junctions in such a way that the enhanced radiation can be transmitted to other devices. Results from another mode of operation of the long Josephson junction as an oscillator are also presented. This mode is based on magnetic-field-induced singularities in long junctions (Fiske steps) generated by the interaction of the cavity modes of the junction seen as an open-ended transmission line and the Josephson oscillations. This mode has given very promising results above 200 GHz, where a power of 20 nW was coupled in a 30- Omega normal state resistance tunnel junction.>
A major factor in the practical utilization of any Josephson device for microwave and higher frequency applications (such as the generation and detection of electromagnetic radiation) is the success with which the junction device can be coupled to an external transmission line. As part of an experimental investigation of the electrodynamics of small arrays of Josephson tunnel junctions, the properties of the coherent radiation emitted both by individual junctions and by coupled junction systems have been studied at frequencies between 2 and 12 GHz. Near 9 GHz, more than 10-9 W of coherent radiation has been detected from a single Pb-Pb oxide-Pb junction coupled via waveguide. The development of thin film devices in which the tunnel junctions form part of a microstrip line have made it feasible to observe directly (in a single device) the radiation emitted both at the fundamental geometrical frequency and at the low order harmonics. The observed temperature dependence of the junction cavity Q indicate the low temperature losses are primarily due to cavity loading of the external transmission line.
Elastic scattering is one of the useful methods to control the transmission behaviors of microwave photons transporting in microwave quantum networks without energy consumption. Therefore, it is of practical significance for developing microwave quantum devices and constructing multi-node microwave quantum networks. The transmission line embedded by a single Josephson junction can be described by different circuit models (series and parallel). In this work, we first theoretically analyze the transmission characteristics of microwave photons scattered by different elastic scattering models described by series or parallel embedding models, generated by a single LC loop or a nonlinear Josephson junction device, respectively. The classical microwave transport theory predicts that the series LC loop and the parallel LC loop lead to different elastic scattering behaviors of microwave photons, i.e. the series LC circuit yields the resonant reflection and the parallel LC circuit leads alternatively to the resonant transmission. Recently, the transport properties of microwave photons scattered by a Josephson junction embedded in a transmission line have been discussed, and the results suggested that the Josephson junction embedded in the transmission line can be described by a series embedding circuit, which implies the resonant reflection. We argue here that if the Josephson junction is embedded in parallel in the transmission line, the elastically scattered microwave photons should be transmitted by resonant transmission. In order to test which of the above two different embedding circuit models yielding the completely different elastic scattering behaviors, is physically correct, we then fabricate such a device, i.e. a single Joseph junction device embedded in a transmission line, and measure its elastic scattering transmission coefficient at an extremely low temperature. The results are consistent with the expected effect of the parallel embedding circuit model, but inconsistent with the behaviors predicted by the series embedding circuit model in the literature. According to the above theoretical and experimental analyses of the elastic scattering of a single Josephson junction device, we further propose a scheme to control the elastic scattering behavior of microwave photons by modulating a DC superconducting quantum interference device with a bypass current, which can be applied to the construction of a microwave quantum network based on elastic scattering node controls.