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We discuss the possible influence of a cosmic magnetic field on the macroscopic quantum tunneling process associated, in a cosmological context, to the decay of the "false vacuum." We find a close analogy with the effects of an external magnetic field applied to a Josephson junction in the context of low-temperature/high-temperature superconducting devices., 4 pages, 1 pdf figure. Added references and an inset in Fig. 1, results unchanged. To appear in Phys. Rev. D (Brief Report)

The predominant d-wave pairing symmetry in high temperature superconductors leads to an unconventional current - phase relation in Josephson junctions. This circumstance may induce new effects in the dynamics of dc SQUIDs. In this contribution we report on the measurements of the dependence of the SQUID Josephson current on the external magnetic field taken at very low temperatures, down to 20 mK. Different grain boundaries have been fabricated by using the biepitaxial and the bicrystal technique. Some of the effects which are induced by a nonsinusoidal current - phase relation can be clearly identified in the dynamics of the SQUIDs. The experimental data are also compared with theoretical simulations taking into account the inductance of the loop. The data show that, in specific conditions, a non-negligible inductance of the loop can induce effects similar to an unconventional current - phase relation, with a pronounced second harmonic sin( 2 phi) term. This fact has to be taken into account when designing d- wave SQUIDs for quantum circuitry.

Recent findings by G.Pepe et al. (Appl.Phys.Lett.89, 2770, 2001) have given new insights over the dynamics of Josephson junctions subject to electronic pulse injection. These experiments can be considered important steps toward the study of non-equilibrium effects involved in junctions under very fast (e.g. laser induced) pumping signals. In the governing equations (sine-Gordon or coupled sine-Gordon depending on the system) pulse operation enters via Josephson current distribution or via bias current distribution. By means of numerical simulations here we study the dependence of the switching to resistive state on fast local depression of Josephson current. Next, using simulated electronic pulse train we show how the flip-flop operating mode found in G.Pepe et al. is a common feature of single or stacked Josephson systems without regard for the pulse waveform or the presence of the gap structure in the I-V characteristics. The effect of the length and of the magnetic field is also discussed.

We report on $\hbox{YBa}_{2}\hbox{Cu}_{3}\hbox{O}_{7-x} $ biepitaxial grain boundary Josephson junctions (JJs) demonstrating significant tunability of their circuital parameters. We show how the enhanced control of the junction properties, and particularly of the capacitance, leads to advances in the understanding of phase dynamics of high-critical-temperature superconductor JJs and potentially of their intrinsic dissipation mechanisms.

We have identified anomalous behavior of the escape rate out of the zero-voltage state in Josephson junctions with a high critical current density Jc. For this study we have employed YBa2Cu3O7-x grain boundary junctions, which span a wide range of Jc and have appropriate electrodynamical parameters. Such high Jc junctions, when hysteretic, do not switch from the superconducting to the normal state following the expected stochastic Josephson distribution, despite having standard Josephson properties such as a Fraunhofer magnetic field pattern. The switching current distributions (SCDs) are consistent with nonequilibrium dynamics taking place on a local rather than a global scale. This means that macroscopic quantum phenomena seem to be practically unattainable for high Jc junctions. We argue that SCDs are an accurate means to measure nonequilibrium effects. This transition from global to local dynamics is of relevance for all kinds of weak links, including the emergent family of nanohybrid Josephson junctions. Therefore caution should be applied in the use of such junctions in, for instance, the search for Majorana fermions., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

The magnetic behaviour of multiply connected superconductors (MCS) can be described by analysing the simplest loop structures containing Josephson junctions: conventional loops with all conventional Josephson junctions and π-loops with an odd subset of π-junctions. The latter are unconventional Josephson junctions in which the coupling has the reversed sign and appears in the ceramic materials as a consequence of d-pairing. Among MCS, the magnetic behaviour of large β two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays (JJA) is based on the single loop behaviour. Solving full mutual inductance Josephson junction square array equations with and without π-loops shows that the mutual inductance coupling influences the distribution of π/conventional loops without substantially altering their single loop magnetization. The JJA mean magnetic behaviour in a low field can be recovered using a simple energy approach based on the single loop solutions avoiding the solution of the array equations. Also, we draw some consequences on the behaviour of more complex MCS as high-Tc ceramics and their observed paramagnetic susceptibilities (paramagnetic Meissner effect).

The behavior of a Josephson system under pulsed operation is of utmost importance for developing reliable digital devices working at very high clock frequencies. Information about effect of thermal noise over pulsed operation is also useful to design errors free devices. Recent experiments in a system of two stacked junctions show that pulses applied to the first junction (injector) of the stack drive the Josephson biased second junction (detector) in the resistive state. The experiment was interpreted as pulsed-assisted escape toward resistive state as a consequence of an excitation of large non-linear oscillations in the detector junction that, with the contribution of thermal noise, drives out the junction from the zero voltage state. Moreover, an unstability of the resistive state toward the zero voltage state under the same pulsed operation was also noted. By means of a systematic numerical approach to the problem, we present a study of the pulsed-assisted escape using the framework of the thermal escape theory for the direct transition from zero voltage state to resistive state. We study the single junction case and a stacked configuration as examples of different systems showing pulsed-assisted escape. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We demonstrate that a large area Josephson junction oscillating in the fluxon oscillator mode can be synchronized to other large junctions and simultaneously pump, by emitted radiation, a small area junction. We study the synchronization of the oscillations of the long junctions as a function of relevant experimental parameters such as bias current and stripline coupling characteristics. Experimental results obtained on coupled series arrays of Josephson junctions designed on the basis of our calculations are presented. We have fabricated coupled arrays containing each up to 1500 junctions in order to estimate the usefulness of our calculations for voltage standard devices.

We have measured the rate of escape out of the zero-voltage state in Josephson tunnel junctions as a function of the applied magnetic field. A marked difference is found in the behaviour of long and small junctions. In all cases, the statistical distribution of the switching currents can be described using a Kramers model for the escape process, where the barrier to be overcome is the Josephson barrier and the activation energy is due to an effective temperature T/sub e/. For small junctions T/sub e/ coincides, as expected, with the thermodynamic temperature, regardless of the applied magnetic field. For long junctions instead it is found that the escape temperature depends markedly on the magnetic field and on the junction geometry (inline or overlap), suggesting a close relationship with the magnetic field distribution inside the junction.

The moderately damped regime in a Josephson junction (JJ) is quite common in devices characterized by low critical currents and therefore by low Josephson energies. Measurements of switching current distribution (SCD) are a direct way of discriminating the phase dynamics also in the nontrivial case of moderate damping, which is going to be more and more common with advances in nanopatterning superconductors and in materials science finalized to build hybrid systems. We report on measurements of SCDs, both in thermal and quantum regime, on moderately damped YBaCuO grain boundary biepitaxial JJs. A direct transition from phase diffusion regime to macroscopic quantum tunnelling occurs at about 130 mK. The crossover to the quantum regime is tuned by the magnetic field and phase dynamics is described by a fully consistent set of junction parameters derived through numerical simulations.

The influence of surface-resistance dissipation on phase locking of fluxon oscillations in long Josephson junctions of in-line geometry subjected to microwave fields which interact with the fluxon at the junction boundaries is studied by the perturbation- theory map approach and by full integration of the pde model of the junction.

We study classical resonant activation (CRA) for a Josephson junction embedded in a shell circuit consisting of one capacitive and one inductive element. The low dissipation quality factor of this device is calculated analytically at the fundamental frequency for two different models of the shell circuit. From our numerical results it emerges that CRA and energy level quantization (ELQ) are distinct processes that can be distinguished in measurements on Josephson devices at low temperatures. CRA at subharmonic frequencies is a highly nonlinear process very different from the corresponding quantum multiphoton process. These results are relevant for the interpretation of a recent experiment on ELQ in high-temperature superconductors Josephson junctions.

We study the vortex-vortex and vortex-antivortex interaction in arrays of Josephson junction particularly addressing the effect of mutual induction in the intermediate screening ranges (betaa = 0.5). The modifications of the barrier energy for the displacement of a vortex in presence of a second vortex (antivortex), or more vortices (antivortices), are derived in an "adiabatic" approach. To this end, we have developed a fast explicit algorithm, which permits to retrieve the phases and the magnetization of the array in a reasonable time and with little memory occupation for relatively large arrays [e.g. o(100 times 100)]. This new model is able to catch the essential characters of the more complex "fully mutual coupling" model. We provide also some indications on the relation between energy barriers and the observation of vortex quantum tunneling phenomena in Josephson arrays and related systems as high-TC films.

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.

The effect of a perpendicular magnetic field on a disordered two‐dimensional Josephson junction array (JJA) is analyzed using numerical simulation of full mutual inductance array equations. Disordered JJA can represent either itself or a model for granular high‐Tc disordered thin films. In usual zero field cooling conditions and absence of disorder the field penetrate the sample following a Bean critical state model. Using a simple technique it is also possible to obtain the whole 3D field map around the array. It can be shown that disorder induces a scattering of flux lines giving rise to some flux penetration into the sample. The 3D field can be used to produce 2D images of the field intensity to be compared with existing magnetic imaging techniques. We briefly discuss the comparison of simulated images with existing imaging experiments, as SQUID Scanning Microscopy (SSM) and Magneto‐Optical techniques (MO).

A novel dynamical state has been observed in the dynamics of a perturbed sine-Gordon system. This resonant state has been experimentally observed as a singularity in the dc current-voltage characteristic of an annular Josephson tunnel junction, excited in the presence of a magnetic field. In this respect it can be assimilated to self-resonances known as Fiske steps. Differently from these, however, we demonstrate, on the basis of numerical simulations, that its detailed dynamics involves rotating fluxon pairs, a mechanism associated, so far, to self-resonances known as zero-field steps. This occurs because the size of nonlinear excitations is comparable with that of the system.

Recent experiments on high-temperature superconductors show paramagnetic behavior localized at grain boundaries (GB). This paramagnetism can be attributed to the presence unconventional d-wave induced $\pi$-junctions. By modeling the GB as an array of $\pi$ and conventional Josephson junction we determine the conditions of the occurrence of the paramagnetic behavior., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

Recent considerations on the physics of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ films made possible explaining their transport properties as flow of supercurrents through links between the granular structure of the film. The present work deals with the analysis of the Josephson junction network as a discrete set of parallel junctions (1D array) in quasi-static conditions and is aimed to compare the results of the simulations with the experimental findings, in particular with the plateau-like features in the critical current dependence on the magnetic field. Different regimes and vortex phases have been individuated and discussed.

A connection between the disorder in the critical currents of two-dimensional arrays of Josephson junctions and the amount of phase-locking of a row to an external microwave signal is proposed. We have computed the probability of phase-locking as a function of the spread of the critical currents of the individual junctions. The analytic results are in good agreement with numerical simulations. The predictions can be also qualitatively compared to the experiments.

Two-dimensional square arrays of short Josephson junctions are investigated using a model which includes both the lumped Josephson circuit elements and an equivalent inductance for the superconducting loops. We have supposed that all junction parameters and the inductances are identical. The analysis of the Gibbs thermodynamic potential shows the existence of energy barriers for a basic process for the diamagnetic behavior of the array: The motion of a flux quantum in the interior of the array. These barriers have been numerically evaluated as a function of the array parameters. The effect of the bias current is discussed and the critical current of the array has been estimated.