Noise-induced stabilization of dynamical states with broken time-reversal symmetry

Under a high frequency drive, Josephson junctions demonstrate "Shapiro steps" of quantized voltage. These are dynamically stabilized states, in which the phase across the junction locks to the external drive. We explore the stochastic switching between two symmetric steps at \(\frac{\hbar\...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2024-08
Main Authors: Larson, Trevyn F Q, Zhao, Lingfei, Arnault, Ethan G, Ming-Tso, Wei, Seredinski, Andrew, Li, Hengming, Watanabe, Kenji, Tanaguchi, Takashi, Amet, François, Finkelstein, Gleb
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Electric potential
Josephson effect
Josephson junctions
Superconductivity
Switching
Temperature dependence
Voltage
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Under a high frequency drive, Josephson junctions demonstrate "Shapiro steps" of quantized voltage. These are dynamically stabilized states, in which the phase across the junction locks to the external drive. We explore the stochastic switching between two symmetric steps at \(\frac{\hbar\omega}{2e}\) and \(-\frac{\hbar\omega}{2e}\). Surprisingly, the switching rate exhibits a pronounced non-monotonicity as a function of temperature, violating the general expectation that transitions should become faster with temperature. We explain this behavior by realizing that the system retains memory of the dynamic state from which it is switching, thereby breaking the conventional simplifying assumptions about separations of time scales.
ISSN:2331-8422