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arXiv:cond-mat/0402516 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Overdamped quantum phase diffusion and charging effects in Josephson junctions

Joachim Ankerhold

Published Jul 1, 2004• 35 citations
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Abstract

By exploiting the recently derived quantum Smoluchowski equation, the classical Ivanchenko-Zil'berman theory for overdamped diffusive phase motion of low-capacitance Josephson junctions is extended to the low-temperature quantum domain where charging effects appear. This formulation allows to derive explicit results for the current-voltage characteristics over a broad range of parameters that reduce to known findings in certain limits. In particular, the transparent analytical approach comprises Coulomb-blockade physics, coherent Cooper-pair transfer, and the precursors of macroscopic quantum tunneling and needs to be supplemented by more sophisticated methods only at very low temperatures.

DOI
10.1209/epl/i2004-10067-y

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By exploiting the recently derived quantum Smoluchowski equation, the classical Ivanchenko-Zil'berman theory for overdamped diffusive phase motion of low-capacitance Josephson junctions is extended to the low-temperature quantum domain where charging effects appear. This formulation allows to derive explicit results for the current-voltage characteristics over a broad range of parameters that reduce to known findings in certain limits. In particular, the transparent analytical approach comprises Coulomb-blockade physics, coherent Cooper-pair transfer, and the precursors of macroscopic quantum tunneling and needs to be supplemented by more sophisticated methods only at very low temperatures.
The supercurrent of a Josephson junction is reduced by phase diffusion. For ultrasmall capacitance junctions the current may be further decreased by Coulomb blockade effects. We calculate the Cooper pair current by means of time-dependent perturbation theory to all orders in the Josephson coupling energy and obtain the current-voltage characteristic in closed form in a range of parameters of experimental interest. The results comprehend phase diffusion of the coherent Josephson current in the classical regime as well as the supercurrent peak due to incoherent Cooper pair tunneling in the Coulomb blockade regime.
We have investigated the phase dynamics of a superconducting tunnel junction at ultralow temperatures in the presence of high damping, where the interaction with environmental degrees of freedom represents the leading energy scale. In this regime, theory predicts the dynamics to follow a generalization of the classical Smoluchowski description, the quantum Smoluchowski equation, thus, exhibiting overdamped quantum Brownian motion characteristics. For this purpose, we have performed current-biased measurements on the small-capacitance Josephson junction of a scanning tunneling microscope placed in a low impedance environment at milli-Kelvin temperatures. We can describe our experimental findings with high accuracy by using a quantum phase diffusion model based on the quantum Smoluchowski equation. In this way we experimentally demonstrate that overdamped quantum systems follow quasiclassical dynamics with significant quantum effects as the leading corrections.
This thesis presents the results of an experimental study on single-charge effects in nanoscale Josephson junctions and Cooper pair transistors (CPTs). In nanoscale Josephson junctions the charging energy EC becomes significant at sub-Kelvin temperatures and single-charge effects, such as the Coulomb blockade of Cooper pair tunneling, influence the transport properties. In order to observe charging effects in a single Josephson junction, the impedance of the electromagnetic environment surrounding the junction has to be larger than the quantum resistance (RQ=h/4e2≈6.45kΩ). In this work the high impedance environment is obtained by biasing the sample under test (single Josephson junction or CPT) with four one-dimensional Josephson junction arrays having SQUID geometry. The advantage of this configuration is the possibility of tuning in situ the effective impedance of the electromagnetic environment. By applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the SQUID loops, the Josephson energy EJ of the SQUIDs is suppressed, resulting in an increase of the measured zero bias resistance of the arrays of several orders of magnitude (104< R0 (Ω) <109). This bias method enables the measurement of the same sample in environments with different impedance. As the impedance of the environment is increased, the current-voltage characteristics (IVCs) of the single Josephson junction and of the CPT show a well defined Coulomb blockade feature with a region of negative differential resistance, signature of the coherent tunneling of single Cooper pairs. The measured IVCs of a single Josephson junction with SQUID geometry in the high impedance environment show a qualitative agreement with the Bloch band theory as the EJ/EC ratio of the junction is tuned with the magnetic field. We also studied a single nontunable Josephson junction with strong coupling (EJ/EC > 1), where the exact dual of the overdamped Josephson effect is realized, resulting in a dual shape of the IVC, where the roles of current and voltage are exchanged. Here, we make for the first time a detailed quantitative comparison with a theory which includes the effect of fluctuations due to the finite temperature of the environment. The measurements on CPTs in the high impedance environment showed that the Coulomb blockade voltage is modulated periodically by the gate-induced charge. The gate-voltage dependence of the CPT changes from e-periodic to 2e-periodic as the impedance of the environment is increased. The high impedance environment reduces quasiparticle tunneling rates, thereby restoring the even parity of the CPT island. This behavior suggests that high impedance leads can be used to effectively suppress quasiparticle poisoning.
We have measured the current-voltage characteristics of a single Josephson junction placed in a high impedance environment. The transfer of Cooper pairs through the junction is governed by overdamped quasicharge dynamics, leading to Coulomb blockade and Bloch oscillations. Exact duality exists to the standard overdamped phase dynamics of a Josephson junction, resulting in a dual shape of the current-voltage characteristic, with current and voltage changing roles. We demonstrate this duality with experiments which allow for a quantitative comparison with a theory that includes the effect of fluctuations due to the finite temperature of the electromagnetic environment.
With the recent technical breakthroughs, physicists fully play with the beauty of quantum mechanics. In this theoretical work on the mesoscopic Josephson effect, we take advantage of the collaborations with experimentalists as well as the exchanges between the cold atoms and condensed matter communities. We consider various systems based on the Josephson junction, beginning with its quantum description in the underdamped regime. Using the Keldysh formalism, we obtain the current-voltage characteristics from the classical to the zero temperature regime and the quantum Smoluchowski equation in the quasi-classical limit. We then study the quantum dynamics of a phase qubit realized with a SQUID in a novel configuration where tunneling events occur through two quartic barriers. The escape rate in this camel-back potential, calculated with the instantons technique, allows us to describe the experiments. Circuit quantum electrodynamics predicts that a lasing effect appears when a qubit is coupled to a resonant cavity. We consider the case of a charge qubit and also that of a transmon which exploits the Purcell effect. With the Lindbladian we obtain the density matrix from which we derive the spectrum of the output field. Finally, we study a gas of cold atoms in a ring shape trap comprising a barrier, thus creating a Bose Josephson junction. The low energy physics is described through the correlation functions with the Luttinger liquid theory. We show that the quantum fluctuations in the ring induce a renormalization of the Josephson energy.