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Dissipation encodes the interaction of a quantum system with the environment and regulates the activation regimes of a Brownian particle. We have engineered grain boundary biepitaxial YBaCuO junctions to drive a direct transition from a quantum activated running state to a phase diffusion regime. The crossover to the quantum regime is tuned by the magnetic field and dissipation is described by a fully consistent set of junction parameters. To unravel phase dynamics in moderately damped systems is of general interest for advances in the comprehension of retrapping phenomena and in view of quantum hybrid technology.

Here we present the direct observation of macroscopic quantum properties in an all high-critical-temperature superconductor d-wave Josephson junction. Although dissipation caused by low-energy excitations is expected to strongly suppress macroscopic quantum effects, we demonstrate energy level quantization in our d-wave Josephson junction. The result indicates that the role of dissipation mechanisms in high-temperature superconductors has to be revised, and it may also have consequences for the class of solid-state "quiet" quantum bits with superior coherence time.

Many experiments on high-temperature superconductors have shown paramagnetic behavior when the sample is field cooled. The paramagnetism was attributed to a d-wave order parameter creating pi-junctions in the samples. However, the same effect was later discovered in traditional low-temperature superconductors and conventional Josephson-junction arrays which are s wave. By simulating both conventional and mixed pi/conventional Josephson-junction arrays we determine that differences exist which may be sufficient to clearly identify the presence of pi junctions. In particular, the pi junctions cause a symmetry breaking providing a measurable signature of their presence.