Metastable voltage states of coupled Josephson junctions

Ya. M. Blanter, Gerd Schön, and A. D. Zaikin
Phys. Rev. B 55, 8452 – Published 1 April 1997
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Abstract

We investigate a chain of capacitively coupled Josephson junctions in the regime where the charging energy dominates over the Josephson coupling, exploiting the analogy between this system and a multidimensional crystal. We find that the current-voltage characteristic of the current-driven chain has a staircase shape, beginning with an (insulating) nonzero voltage plateau at small currents. This behavior differs qualitatively from that of a single junction, which should show Bloch oscillations with vanishing dc voltage. The simplest system where this effect can be observed consists of three grains connected by two junctions. The theory explains the results of recent experiments on Josephson junction arrays.

  • Received 16 August 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.55.8452

©1997 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Ya. M. Blanter

  • Institut für Theorie der Kondensierten Materie, Universität Karlsruhe, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • and Department of Theoretical Physics, Moscow Institute for Steel and Alloys, Leninskii Pr. 4, 117936 Moscow, Russia

Gerd Schön

  • Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik, Universität Karlsruhe, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany

A. D. Zaikin

  • Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik, Universität Karlsruhe, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
  • and I. E. Tamm Department of Theoretical Physics, P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Leninskii Pr. 53, 117924 Moscow, Russia

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Issue

Vol. 55, Iss. 13 — 1 April 1997

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