Stabilized parametric cooper-pair pumping in a linear array of coupled Josephson junctions

We present an experimentally realizable stabilized charge pumping scheme in a linear array of Cooper-pair boxes. The system design intrinsically protects the pumping mechanism from severe errors, especially current reversal and spontaneous charge excitation. The quantum Zeno effect is implemented to further diminish pumping errors. The characteristics of this scheme are considered from the perspective of improving the current standard. Such an improvement bears relevance to the closure of the so-called measurement triangle (see [D. Averin, Nature (London) 434, 285 (2005)).     

Quantum coherence in a superfluid Josephson junction

We report a new kind of experiment in which we take an array of nanoscale apertures that form a superfluid (4)He Josephson junction and apply quantum phase gradients directly along the array. We observe collective coherent behaviors from aperture elements, leading to quantum interference. Connections to superconducting and Bose-Einstein condensate Josephson junctions as well as phase coherence among the superfluid aperture array are discussed.     

Development of 0.5-V Josephson junction array devices for quantum voltage standards

The design, fabrication, and the characterization of a 0.5-V Josephson junction array device are presented for the quantum voltage standards in the National Institute of Metrology(NIM) of China. The device consists of four junction arrays, each of which has 1200 3-stacked Nb/Nb_xSi_(1-x)/Nb junctions and an on-chip superconducting microwave circuit which is mainly a power divider enabling each Josephson array being loaded with an equal amount of microwave power. A direct current(dc) quantum voltage of about 0.5 V with a ～1-mA current margin of the 1 st quantum voltage step is obtained.To further prove the quality of NIM device, a comparison between the NIM device with the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) programmable Josephson voltage standard(PJVS) system device is conducted. The difference of the reproduced 0.5-V quantum voltage between the two devices is about 0.55 nV, which indicates good agreement between the two devices. With the homemade device, we have realized a precise and applicable 0.5-V applicable-level quantum voltage.     

Observation of soliton fusion in a Josephson array

The behavior of topological solitons in a parallel array of a Josephson junction is studied experimentally. We observe the fusion of two relativistic solitons of the same polarity into a single soliton. The soliton carries two quanta of magnetic flux and, most strikingly, travels 18% faster than an ordinary soliton under the same driving force. We also find a variety of bunched states composed of solitons of the same polarity, moving with fixed separation.     

Rectifying effect in a Josephson junction ratchet array

We have studied numerically a rectifying effect in an underdamped Josephson junction ratchet array driven by dc and ac current. The array consists of both alternating potential barriers and alternating inter-capacitances along the direction of vortex flow. The guide banks of high critical currents are assigned for all the longitudinal junctions to prevent the percolative pattern of vortex motion. In some junction parameters, we see a rectifying effect which indicates a finite value of the time-averaged voltage at zero dc bias. The directional dependence of the vortex motion becomes fairly large when the junction parameters lie in an optimal range which gives rise to a Shapiro step at zero dc bias. Such a rectifying effect survives for small thermal fluctuation, but eventually disappear beyond a certain critical temperature.     

Lifetime and coherence of two-level defects in a Josephson junction

We measure the lifetime (T?) and coherence (T?) of two-level defect states (TLSs) in the insulating barrier of a Josephson phase qubit and compare to the interaction strength between the two systems. We find for the average decay times a power-law dependence on the corresponding interaction strengths, whereas for the average coherence times we find an optimum at intermediate coupling strengths. We explain both the lifetime and the coherence results using the standard TLS model, including dipole radiation by phonons and anticorrelated dependence of the energy parameters on environmental fluctuations.     

Quantum transitions of a small Josephson junction array

We have experimentally studied a small Josephson junction array in the presence of microwave irradiation. The array has comparable energy scales for single-charge effects and the Josephson effect, resulting in a discrete set of macroscopic eigenenergy levels. Excitation of the array by low-power microwaves is possible at frequencies where the photon energy matches the level spacing. The microwave frequency and amplitude dependence show that the excitation mechanism involves resonant quantum coherent dynamics of the array.     

Quantum glass transition in a periodic long-range Josephson array

We show that the ground state of a periodic long-range Josephson array frustrated by a magnetic field is a glass for sufficiently large Josephson energies despite the absence of quenched disorder. Like superconductors, this glass state has non-zero phase stiffness and Meissner response; for lower Josephson energies the glass “melts” and the ground state loses its phase stiffness and becomes insulating. We find the critical scaling behavior near this quantum phase transition: the excitation gap vanishes as (J−J _c )², and the frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility behaves as . Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1450–1461 (October 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Effects of a modified spectral model on the spatial coherence of a laser beam

The influence of a modified (bump) spectrum of refractive index fluctuations on the spatial coherence of an optical wave is studied here and compared with that based on a von Karman spectrum. Analytical expressions are derived for the mutual coherence function (MCF) and wave structure function (WSF) of a lowest-order Gaussian beam wave from which the beam spot size and degree of coherence are deduced. The qualitative behaviour of beam spreading and coherence length is basically the same for both spectral models. Also, when the radius of the Fresnel zone and initial beam radius are of comparable size, the presence of a spectral bump appears to have minimal effect on spatial coherence for all beams. However, the choice of spectral model is important for certain ranges of parameters. In particular, the implied spatial coherence length for a collimated beam based on the modified spectrum is significantly smaller than that based on the von Karman spectrum whenever the Fresnel zone is either much larger or much smaller than the initial beam radius, whereas for a focused beam the predicted coherence length based on the modified spectrum is slightly larger when the Fresnel zone size is much smaller than the initial beam radius.     

Current-versus voltage source model in Josephson effect

The height of the calculated radiation-induced constant-voltage steps in the characteristic of a Josephson junction with linear-periodic current-phase relation is compared with the magnitude of the current spikes obtained from the voltage-source model.     

Capacitance-induced in-phase switching in a basic two-dimensional Josephson junction array

Phase locking in a basic two-dimensional Josephson junction array consisting of two coupled SQUIDs is studied exploiting a new method combining the ideas of harmonic balance with the phase-slip procedure. This permits not only including the effect of non-vanishing junction capacitance, but extending our earlier investigations of the same circuit to arbitrary ring inductances, including inductances l ≈ 1 as well. As a result, our earlier finding that only antiphase oscillations can be stable in such a circuit are modified by observing a transition to the in-phase regime for larger values of the junction capacitance. The transition between both regimes is found to be determined by the resonance condition between ring inductance and junction capacitance.