Effects of energy-level quantization on the supercurrent decay of Josephson junctions

B. Ruggiero; M. G. Castellano; G. Torrioli; C. Cosmelli; F. Chiarello; V. G. Palmieri; C. Granata; P. Silvestrini

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.59.177

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Effects of energy-level quantization on the supercurrent decay of Josephson junctions

B. Ruggiero, M. G. Castellano, G. Torrioli, C. Cosmelli, F. Chiarello, V. G. Palmieri, C. Granata, P. Silvestrini

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.59.177 · Physical Review B

T1

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Abstract

We present measurements of the supercurrent decay in high quality Nb/AlOx/Nb Josephson junctions which show evidence of energy-level quantization within the washboard potential describing the junction. The effect of discrete energy levels leads to oscillations in the rate of escape from the zero voltage state as a function of the bias current, observed at different temperatures. The oscillation spacing fits that expected from the energy level quantization. Moreover, a fit with the quantum theory allows us to derive interesting conclusions about the effective dissipation of the system at low temperatures.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
Nb Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown