Intrinsic Josephson-junction stacks realized in high-temperature superconductors provide a very attractive base for developing coherent sources of electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz frequency range. A promising way to synchronize phase oscillations in all the junctions is to excite an internal cavity resonance. We demonstrate that this resonance promotes the formation of an alternating coherent state, in which the system spontaneously splits into two subsystems with different phase-oscillation patterns. There is a static phase shift between the oscillations in the two subsystems which changes from 0 to $2π$ in a narrow region near the stack center. The oscillating electric and magnetic fields are almost homogeneous in all the junctions. The formation of this state promotes efficient pumping of the energy into the cavity resonance leading to strong resonance features in the current-voltage dependence.
We consider theoretically and numerically magnetic field dependencies of the maximum supercurrent across Josephson tunnel junctions with spatially alternating critical current density. We find that two flux-penetration fields and one-splinter-vortex equilibrium state exist in long junctions.
We treat theoretically Shapiro steps in tunnel Josephson junctions with spatially alternating critical current density. Explicit analytical formulas for the width of the first integer (normal) and half-integer (anomalous) Shapiro steps are derived for short junctions. We develop coarse-graining approach, which describes Shapiro steps in the voltage-current curves of the asymmetric grain boundaries in YBCO thin films and different superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor Josephson-type heterostructures.
We study the breakpoint region on the outermost branch of current-voltage characteristics of the stacks with different number of intrinsic Josephson junctions. We show that at periodic boundary conditions the breakpoint region is absent for stacks with even number of junctions. For stacks with odd number of junctions and for stacks with nonperiodic boundary conditions the breakpoint current is increased with number of junctions and saturated at the value corresponding to the periodic boundary conditions. The region of saturation and the saturated value depend on the coupling between junctions.…
We propose a theory for photon-assisted macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a stack of capacitively-coupled intrinsic Josephson junctions in which the longitudinal Josephson plasma, i.e., longitudinal collective phase oscillation modes, is excited. The scheme of energy-level quantization in the collective oscillatory states is clarified in the $N$-junction system. When the MQT occurs from the single-plasmon states excited by microwave irradiation in the multi-photon process to the uniform voltage state, our theory predicts that the escape rate is proportional to $N^2$. This result is consis…
We consider the properties of a periodic structure consisting of small alternating 0- and pi- Josephson junctions. We show that depending on the relation between the lengths of the individual junctions, this system can be either in the homogeneous or in the phase-modulated state. The modulated phase appears via a second order phase transition when the mismatch between the lengths of the individual junctions exceeds the critical value. The screening length diverges at the transition point. In the modulated state, the equilibrium phase difference in the structure can take any value from -pi to p…
We compute the frequency and magnetic field dependencies of the reflectivity $R(ω)$ in layered superconductors with two alternating intrinsic Josephson junctions with different critical current densities and quasiparticle conductivities for the electric field polarized along the c-axis. The parameter $α$ describing the electronic compressibility of the layers and the charge coupling of neighboring junctions was extracted for the SmLa$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4-δ}$ superconductor from two independent optical measurements, the fit of the loss function $L(ω)$ at zero magnetic field and the magnetic f…
The Josephson plasma resonance in layered superconductors with alternating critical current densities is investigated in a low perpendicular magnetic field. In the vortex solid phase the current densities and the squared bare plasma frequencies decrease linearly with the magnetic field. Taking into account the coupling due to charge fluctuations on the layers, we extract from recent optical data for SmLa_{1-x} Sr_x CuO_{4-delta} the Josephson penetration length lambda_{ab} approximately 1100 A parallel to the layers at T=10 K.
Operation of a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) made of stacked Josephson junctions is analyzed numerically for a variety of junction parameters. Due to a magnetic coupling of junctions in the stack, such a SQUID has certain advantages as compared to an uncoupled multi-junction SQUID. Namely, metastability of current-flux modulation can be reduced and a voltage-flux modulation can be improved if junctions in the stack are phase-locked. Optimum operation of the SQUID is expected for moderately long, strongly coupled stacked Josephson junctions. A possibility of making a stack…
We show that shunt capacitor stabilizes synchronized oscillations in intrinsic Josephson junction stacks biased by DC current. This synchronization mechanism has an effect similar to the previously discussed radiative coupling between junctions, however, it is not defined by the geometry of the stack. It is particularly important in crystals with smaller number of junctions, where radiation coupling is week, and is comparable with the effect of strong super-radiation in crystal with many junctions. The shunt also helps to enter the phase-locked regime in the beginning of oscillations, after sw…
We confirmed the existence of the collective transverse plasma modes excited by the motion of the Josephson vortex lattice in stacked intrinsic Josephson junctions of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ by observing the multiple subbranches in the Josephson-vortex-flow current-voltage characteristics. We also observed the symptom of the microwave emission from the resonance between the Josephson vortex lattice and the collective transverse plasma modes, which provides the possibility of developing Josephson-vortex-flow electromagnetic oscillators.
Intrinsic Josephson-junction stacks realized in mesas fabricated out of high-temperature superconductors may be used as sources of coherent electromagnetic radiation in the terahertz range. The major challenge is to synchronize Josephson oscillations in all junctions in the stack to get significant radiation out of the crystal edge parallel to the c axis. We suggest a simple way to solve this problem via artificially prepared lateral modulation of the Josephson critical current identical in all junctions. In such a stack phase oscillations excite the in-phase Fiske mode when the Josephson freq…
We study long Josephson junctions with the critical current density alternating along the junction. New equilibrium states, which we call the field synchronized or FS states, are shown to exist if the applied field is from narrow intervals centered around equidistant series of resonant fields, $H_m$. The values of $H_m$ are much higher than the flux penetration field, $H_s$. The flux per period of the alternating critical current density, $ϕ_i$, is fixed for each of the FS states. In the $m$-th FS state the value of $ϕ_i$ is equal to an integer amount of flux quanta, $ϕ_i =mϕ_0$. Two types of …
We investigate the collective phase dynamics in conventional long Josephson junction (LJJ) stacks and in layered superconductors, exhibiting intrinsic LJJ behaviors. Using a theoretical model which accounts for both the magnetic induction effect and the breakdown of local charge neutrality (i.e., charging effect), we show that the collective motion of Josephson vortices, including the dispersion of Josephson plasma mode and the Swihart-type velocity, in an intrinsic LJJ stack such as Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+y}$ (BSCCO) is significantly modified from those in a conventional LJJ stack. In BSCC…
The phase dynamics of the stack of long Josephson junctions has been studied. Both inductive and capacitive couplings between Josephson junctions have been taken into account in the calculations. The IV--curve, bias current dependence of radiation power and dynamics of each JJs of the stack have been investigated. The coexistence of the charge traveling wave and fluxon states has been observed. This state can be considered as a new collective excitation in the system of coupled Josephson junctions. We demonstrate that the observed collective excitation leads to the decreasing of radiation powe…
Josephson vortices in naturally stacked Bi-2212 tunneling junctions display rich dynamic behavior that derives from the coexistence of three basic states: static Josephson vortex lattice, coherently moving lattice, and incoherent quasiparticle tunneling state. Rich structure of hysteretic branches observed in the current-voltage characteristics can be understood as combinatorial combinations of these three states which are realized in different junctions and evolve separately with magnetic field and bias current. In particular, the multiple Josephson-vortex-flow branches at low bias currents a…
We observed splitting of the low-bias vortex-flow branch in a dense-Josephson-vortex state into multiple sub-branches in current-voltage characteristics of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) of Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$ single crystals in the long-junction limit. Each sub-branch corresponds to a plasma mode in serially coupled Josephson junctions. Splitting into low-bias linear sub-branches with a spread in the slopes and the inter-sub-branch mode-switching character are in good quantitative agreement with the prediction of the weak but finite inter-junction capacitive-coupling mod…
Two parallel stacks of coupled Josephson junctions are investigated to clarify the physics of transitions between the rotating and oscillating states and their effect on the IV-characteristics of the system. The detailed study of phase dynamics and bias dependence of the superconducting and diffusion currents allows one to explain all features of simulated IV-characteristics and demonstrate the correspondence in their behavior. The coupling between JJ in the stacks leads to the branching of IV-characteristics and a decrease in the hysteretic region. The crucial role of the diffusion current in…
We investigate the stability of a rectangular Josephson vortex lattice in a stack of two long Josephson junctions. It is shown that in an infinite stack at low velocities the lattice is unstable with respect to triangular vortex lattice formation and at high velocities the lattice may be either stable or unstable due to parametric resonance. This resonance may be "suppressed" in three ways: (i) by increase of damping in the system, (ii) by the increase of the external magnetic field, or (iii) by increase of the velocity of the lattice. We show that the finineness of the stack may provide the s…
Dynamic states offer extended possibilities to control the properties of quantum matter. Recent efforts are focused on studying the ordered states which appear exclusively under the time-dependent drives. Here we demonstrate a class of systems which feature dynamic spin-triplet superconducting order stimulated by the alternating electric field. The effect is based on the interplay of ferromagnetism, interfacial spin-orbital coupling (SOC) and the condensate motion driven by the field, which converts hidden static p-wave order, produced by the joint action of the ferromagnetism and the SOC, int…
Using a numerical tight-binding approach based on the Chebyshev-Bogoliubov-de Gennes method we describe Josephson junctions made of multilayer graphene contacted by top superconducting gates. Both Bernal (ABA) and rhombohedral (ABC) stacking are considered and we find that the type of stacking has a strong effect on the proximity effect and the supercurrent flow. For both cases the pair amplitude shows a polarization between dimer and non-dimer atoms, being more pronounced for rhombohedral stacking. Even though the proximity effect in non-dimer sites is enhanced when compared to single layer g…
Recently, it has been shown that large stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 emit synchronous THz radiation, the synchronization presumably triggered by a cavity resonance. To investigate this effect we use Low Temperature Scanning Laser Microscopy to image electric field distributions. Apart from verifying the appearance of cavity modes at low bias we find that, in a high input power regime, standing-wave patterns are created through interactions with a hot spot, possibly pointing to a new mode of generating synchronized radiation in intrinsic Josephson junction stacks.
We simulate the current-voltage relation of short layered superconductors, which we model as stacks of capacitively coupled Josephson junctions. The system is driven by external laser fields, in order to optically control the voltage drop across the junction. We identify parameter regimes in which supercurrents can be stabilised against thermally induced phase slips, thus reducing the effective voltage across the superconductor. Furthermore, single driven Josephson junctions are known to exhibit phase-locked states, where the superconducting phase is locked to the driving field. We numerically…
We present a detailed study of the dynamic interactions between Josephson vortices and stacks of pancake vortices in a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 single crystal, obtained by measuring the effect of applied inplane magnetic field pulses on the c-axis magnetisation. The predominant interaction is to relax the system towards equilibrium. However, using a highly sensitive AC technique we are able to measure also the forces acting to drive the system away from equilibrium, consistent with the existence of dragging interactions between the Josephson and pancake systems. Such forces were discussed recently as the…
Pulse activated transitions from the metastable to the running state and viceversa have been observed in a stacked double tunnel Nb-based Josephson system. Experimental results are compared with numerical simulations based on the Sine-Gordon model of the stacked junctions by injecting pulses with variable amplitude in one of the junctions of the stack, and observing the voltage response of the other junction. Both experimental and numerical results show the possibility to induce both direct and back-switching transitions from the metastable to the running state simply by changing the amplitude…
We report the systematic investigations of the oscillation of the Josephson vortex (JV) flow resistance in Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$ micro-fabricated junctions with various geometries and superconducting anisotropy parameters. As the applied magnetic field parallel to the $ab$-plane is increased, oscillation with a period corresponding to a $ϕ_0/2$ par atomic Josephson junction changes to oscillation with a doubled period. This crossover is scaled by both the junction length and the anisotropy parameter, indicating that the bulk inductive coupling that favors the triangular JV lattice is r…
The peculiarities of the phase dynamics of stacks of coupled Josephson junctions with topologically trivial and nontrivial barriers have been investigated numerically and their comparative analysis is carried out. The effect of coupling and dissipation parameters on the parametric resonance in the breakpoint region is shown. It is found that the dependence of the breakpoint voltage on the dissipation parameter demonstrates a minimum due to the changing of frequency of longitudinal plasma wave. We have shown that in case of the stack with nontrivial barriers the observed minimum shifts along th…
We have investigated macroscopic quantum tunneling in Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$ intrinsic Josephson junctions at millikelvin temperatures using microwave irradiation. Measurements show that the escape rate for uniformly switching stacks of N junctions is about $N^2$ times higher than that of a single junction having the same plasma frequency. We argue that this gigantic enhancement of macroscopic quantum tunneling rate in stacks is boosted by current fluctuations which occur in the series array of junctions loaded by the impedance of the environment.
The nano-scale intrinsic Josephson junctions in highly anisotropic cuprate superconductors have potential for generation of terahertz electromagnetic waves. When the thickness of a superconductor sample is much smaller than the wavelength of electromagnetic waves in vacuum, the superconductor renders itself as a cavity. Unlike conventional lasers, the presence of the cavity does not guarantee a coherent emission because of the internal degree of freedom of the superconductivity phase in long junctions. We study the excitation of terahertz wave by solitons in a stack of intrinsic Josephson junc…
The microwave distribution inside a rectangular stack (15 $μ$m$\times$0.72 $μ$m$\times$60 nm) of Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$ intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) was studied. The stack was microfabricated into a transmission-line geometry, with a few hundred nm thick Au layers deposited on top and bottom of the stack. The microwave distribution was monitored by measuring the anomalous suppression of the tunneling critical current of the IJJs with varied microwave power at frequencies in the W band. This technique can provide valuable information on the microwave transmission modes insi…
A key phenomenon related to the Josephson effect is oscillations of different properties of superconducting tunneling junctions with magnetic field. We consider magnetic oscillations of the critical current in stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions, which are realized in mesas fabricated from layered high-temperature superconductors. The oscillation behavior is very different from the case of a single junction. Depending on the stack lateral size, oscillations may have either the period of half flux quantum per junction (wide-stack regime) or one flux quantum per junction (narrow-stack regime…
A new family of dynamic states are found in a stack of inductively coupled intrinsic Josephson junctions in the absence of an external magnetic field. In this state, $(2m_l+1)π$ phase kinks with integers $m_l$'s stack along the c axis and lock neighboring junction together. Large dc power is pumped into plasma oscillation via kinks at the cavity resonance. The plasma oscillation is uniform along the c axis with the frequency satisfying the ac Josephson relation. Thus this state supports strong terahertz radiation and seems to be compatible with the recent experimental observations.
We performed measurements of switching current distribution in a submicron La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) stack in a wide temperature range. The escape rate saturates below approximately 2\,K, indicating that the escape event is dominated by a macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) process with a crossover temperature $T^{*}\approx2\,$K. We applied the theory of MQT for IJJ stacks, taking into account dissipation and the phase re-trapping effect in the LSCO IJJ stack. The theory is in good agreement with the experiment both in the MQT and in the thermal activati…
The dynamics of superconductivity phase in thick stack of Josephson junctions with strong inductive coupling, such as the one realized in layered high-$T_c$ cuprates and possibly the recently discovered FeAs-based superconductors, is investigated under a c-axis bias voltage and in the absence of an external magnetic field. The kink state found previously by the present authors is extended to three dimensions for both rectangular and cylindrical geometries. The IV characteristics are calculated and the distributions of electromagnetic field inside the samples are clarified. The solution for a c…
Certain high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors, which naturally realize a stack of Josephson junctions, thus can be used to generate electromagnetic waves in the terahertz region. A plate-like single crystal with $10^4$ junctions without cavity resonance was proposed to achieve strong radiation. For this purpose, it is required to synchronize the Josephson plasma oscillation in all junctions. In this work, we propose to use two stacks of junctions shunted in parallel to achieve synchronization. The two stacks are mutually synchronized in the whole IV curve, and there is a phase shift between the p…
At high enough input power in stacks of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O8 intrinsic Josephson junctions a hot spot (a region heated to above the superconducting transition temperature) coexists with regions still in the superconducting state. In the ``cold'' regions cavity resonances can occur, synchronizing the ac Josephson currents and giving rise to strong coherent THz emission. We investigate the interplay of hot spots and standing electromagnetic waves by low temperature scanning laser microscopy and THz emission measurements, using stacks of various geometries. For a rectangular and a arrow-shaped struct…
A new dynamic state characterized by $(2m_l+1)π$ static phase kink with integers $\{m_l\}$ is proposed recently in a stack of inductively coupled Josephson junctions. In the present paper, the stability of the phase kink state is investigated against many perturbations and it is shown that the kink state is stable. It is also discussed that the suppression of the amplitude of superconducting order parameter caused by the kink is weak.
Intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) stacks of cuprate superconductors have potential to be implemented as intrinsic phase qubits working at relatively high temperatures. We report success in fabricating submicron La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (LSCO) IJJ stacks carved out of single crystals. We also show a new fabrication method in which argon ion etching is performed after focused ion beam etching. As a result, we obtained an LSCO IJJ stack in which resistive multi-branches appeared. It may be possible to control the number of stacked IJJs with an accuracy of a single IJJ by developing this metho…
We have studied experimentally and numerically temperature profiles and the formation of hot spots in intrinsic Josephson junction stacks in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (BSCCO). The superconducting stacks are biased in a state where all junctions are resistive. The formation of hot spots in this system is shown to arise mainly from the strongly negative temperature coefficient of the c-axis resistivity of BSCCO at low temperatures. This leads to situations where the maximum temperature in the hot spot can be below or above the superconducting transition temperature Tc. The numerical simulations are in good …
We derive an approximate analytic solution for a single fluxon in a double stacked Josephson junctions (SJJ's) for arbitrary junction parameters and coupling strengths. It is shown that the fluxon in a double SJJ's can be characterized by two components, with different Swihart velocities and Josephson penetration depths. Using the perturbation theory we find the second order correction to the solution and analyze its accuracy. Comparison with direct numerical simulations shows a quantitative agreement between exact and approximate analytic solutions. It is shown that due to the presence of two…
The dynamics of a one-dimensional, highly discrete, linear array of alternating $0-$ and $π-$ Josephson junctions is studied numerically, under constant bias current at zero magnetic field. The calculated current - voltage characteristics exhibit half-integer and integer zero-field-like steps for even and odd total number of junctions, respectively. Inspection of the instantaneous phases reveals that, in the former case, single $π-$kink excitations (discrete semi-fluxons) are supported, whose propagation in the array gives rise to the $1/2-$step, while in the latter case, a pair of $π-$kink --…
Charge formations on superconducting layers and creation of the longitudinal plasma wave in the stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions change crucially the superconducting current through the stack. Investigation of the correlations of superconducting currents in neighboring Josephson junctions and the charge correlations in neighboring superconducting layers allows us to predict the additional features in the current--voltage characteristics. The charge autocorrelation functions clearly demonstrate the difference between harmonic and chaotic behavior in the breakpoint region. Use of the corre…
Terahertz radiation of the stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions in the mesa structure of the layered high-Tc superconductors is analyzed and presented in this work. The dependency of the radiated power to the geometrical parameters, cavity-waveguide boundaries, and magnetic and electric bias has been investigated. This has been done by numerical calculation of the previously proposed coupled sine-Gordon equations, which characterize the electromagnetic dynamics of the stack of the intrinsic Josephson junctions. Using the obtained numerical results from these coupled equations, the effect of …
By patterning mesoscopic crystals of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (BSCCO) into electromagnetic resonators the oscillations of a large number of intrinsic Josephson junctions can be synchronized into a macroscopic coherent state accompanied by the emission of strong continuous wave THz-radiation. The temperature dependence of the emission is governed by the interplay of self-heating in the resonator and by re-trapping of intrinsic Josephson junctions which can yield a strongly nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the emission power. Furthermore, proper shaping of the resonators yields THzsources with voltag…
Dynamics of a fluxon in a stack of inductively coupled long Josephson junctions is studied analytically and numerically. We demonstrate that the fluxon has a maximum velocity, which does not necessarily coincide with any of the characteristic Josephson plasma wave velocities. The maximum fluxon velocity is found by means of numerical simulations of the quasi-infinite system. Using the variational approximation, we propose a simple analytical formula for the dependence of the fluxon's maximum velocity on the coupling constant and on the distribution of critical currents in different layers. Thi…
We study analytically and numerically the influence of the quasiparticle charge imbalance on the dynamics of the asymmetric Josephson stack formed by two inequivalent junctions: the fast capacitive junction $JJ_{1}$ and slow non-capacitive junction $JJ_{2}$. We find, that the switching of the fast junction into resistive state leads to significant increase of the effective critical current of the slow junction. At the same time, the initial switching of the slow junction may either increase or decrease the effective critical current of the fast junction, depending on ratio of their resistances…
We report the experimental evidence of the ac Josephson effect in a transition edge sensor (TES) operating in a frequency domain multiplexer and biased by ac voltage at MHz frequencies. The effect is observed by measuring the non-linear impedance of the sensor. The TES is treated as a weakly linked superconducting system and within the resistively shunted junction model framework. We provide a full theoretical explanation of the results by finding the analytic solution of the non-inertial Langevian equation of the system and calculating the non-linear response of the detector to a large ac bia…
We report on THz emission measurements and low temperature scanning laser imaging of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8 intrinsic Josephson junction stacks. Coherent emission is observed at large dc input power, where a hot spot and a standing wave, formed in the "cold" part of the stack, coexist. By varying the hot spot size the cavity resonance frequency and the emitted radiation can be tuned. The linewidth of radiation is much smaller than expected from the quality factor of the cavity mode excited. Thus, an additional mechanism of synchronization seems to play a role, possibly arising from nonequilibrium p…
Dynamics of stacked intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJ) in the high-Tc superconductors is theoretically investigated. We calculate the current-voltage characteristics (CVC) of IJJ and study the breakpoint region on the outermost branch of the CVC for the stacks with 9 IJJ. A method for investigation of the fine structure in CVC of IJJ based on the recording the "phase-charge" diagrams is suggested. It is demonstrated that this method reflects the main features of the breakpoint region.
We study numerically and analytically the shape of a single fluxon moving in a double stacked Josephson junctions (SJJ's) for various junction parameters. We show that the fluxon in a double SJJ's consists of two components, which are characterized by different Swihart velocities and Josephson penetration depths. The weight coefficients of the two components depend on the parameters of the junctions and the velocity of the fluxon. It is shown that the fluxon in SJJ's may have an unusual shape with an inverted magnetic field in the second junction when the velocity of the fluxon is approaching …
Josephson junction systems with a negative differential resistance play an essential role for applications. As a well known example, long Josephson junctions of the BSCCO type have been considered as a source of THz radiation in recent experiments. Numerical results for the dynamics of the fluxon system have demonstrated that a cavity induced negative differential resistance plays a crucial role for the emission of electromagnetic radiation. We consider the case of a negative differential resistance region in the McCumber curve itself of a single junction and found that it has an effect on the…
Stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions in the resistive state can by efficiently synchronized by the internal cavity mode resonantly excited by the Josephson oscillations. We study the stability of dynamic coherent states near the resonance with respect to small perturbations. Three states are considered: the homogeneous and alternating-kink states in zero magnetic field and the homogeneous state in the magnetic field near the value corresponding to half flux quantum per junction. We found two possible instabilities related to the short-scale and long-scale perturbations. The homogeneous stat…
Terahertz radiation from the mesa structures of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$ is detected in samples with thin electrodes $< 100$ nm. In samples with thick electrodes $\simeq$ 400 nm, neither radiations nor voltage jumps in current-voltage characteristics are detected. This suggests that the thin electrode helps excite the Josephson plasma oscillation as a result of the poor heat flow through the electrode. The shielding effect by the electrode is not essential. We consider that the local temperature rise is the origin of the synchronization of the phase kink for terahertz radiation.
We investigate the response of a stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) to terahertz (THz) electromagnetic (EM) irradiation. A significant amplification of the EM wave can be achieved by the IJJs stack when the incident frequency equals to one of the cavity frequencies. The irradiation excites pi phase kinks in the junctions, which stimulate the cavity resonance when the bias voltage is tuned. A large amount of dc energy is then pumped into the Josephson plasma oscillation, and the incident wave gets amplified. From the profound current step in IV characteristics induced at the cavity r…
We present a systematic study of the Cherenkov radiation of Josephson plasma waves by fast moving fluxon in a stack of coupled long Josephson junctions for different fluxon modes. It is found that at some values of parameters current-voltage characteristic may exhibit a region of the back-bending on the fluxon step. In the opposite limit the emission of the Cherenkov radiation takes place. In the annular junctions of moderate length the interaction of the emitted waves with fluxon results in the novel resonances which emerge on the top of the fluxon step. We present more exact formulas which d…
Recently it has been found that, when operated at large input power, the linewidth of terahertz radiation emitted from intrinsic Josephson junction stacks can be as narrow as some megahertz. In this high-bias regime a hot spot coexists with regions which are still superconducting. Surprisingly, the linewidth was found to decrease with increasing bath temperature. We present a simple model describing the dynamics of the stack in the presence of a hot spot by two parallel arrays of pointlike Josephson junctions and an additional shunt resistor in parallel. Heat diffusion is taken into account by…
We present an exact mathematical description of Josephson vortices and of the Meissner effect in periodic thin-layer superconductor/insulator structures with an arbitrary number of identical junctions N-1 (N is the number of superconducting layers) in terms of localized solutions to a system of differential equations for phase differences. We establish a general criterion of the existence of localized solutions. We show that Meissner solutions are characterized by several Josephson lengths [N/2 lengths for even N, and (N-1)/2 lengths for odd N]. We derive an exact expression for the superheati…
We report on measurements of the linewidth Δf of THz radiation emitted from intrinsic Josephson junction stacks, using a Nb/AlN/NbN integrated receiver for detection. Previous resolution limited measurements indicated that Δf may be below 1 GHz - much smaller than expected from a purely cavity-induced synchronization. While at low bias we found Δf to be not smaller than ? 500 MHz, at high bias, where a hotspot coexists with regions which are still superconducting, Δf turned out to be as narrow as 23 MHz. We attribute this to the hotspot acting as a synchronizing element. Δf decreases with incr…
We study experimentally and theoretically the influence of phase-whirling (resistive) state in one junction of a two-fold Josephson stack on the fluxon motion in the other junction. In experiment, we measure the fluxon velocity versus current in one junction as a function of the state (Meissner or resistive) of the neighboring junction. The analysis, made for the limit of high fluxon density, shows that the interaction with the resistive state results in an increase of the effective damping for the moving fluxon and, therefore, in reduction of its velocity. Numerical simulations confirm this r…
