Dissipation and traversal time in Josephson junctions

Ilaria Cacciari; Paolo Moretti; Anedio Ranfagni

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.81.172506

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Dissipation and traversal time in Josephson junctions

Ilaria Cacciari, Paolo Moretti, Anedio Ranfagni

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.81.172506 · Physical Review B

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Abstract

The various ways of evaluating dissipative effects in macroscopic quantum tunneling are re-examined. The results obtained by using functional integration, while confirming those of previously given treatments, enable a comparison with available experimental results relative to Josephson junctions. A criterion based on the shortening of the semiclassical traversal time τ of the barrier with regard to dissipation can be established, according to which Δτ/τ≳N/Q, where Q is the quality factor of the junction and N is a numerical constant of order unity. The best agreement with the experiments is obtained for N=1.11, as it results from a semiempirical analysis based on an increase in the potential barrier caused by dissipative effects.