Macroscopic quantum tunneling in d-wave YBa2Cu3O7-delta Josephson junctions

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Mar 4;94(8):087003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.087003. Epub 2005 Mar 3.

Abstract

The escape rate from the zero voltage state in a superconducting Josephson junction (JJ) is determined by the temperature, but it saturates at low temperature due to macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT). Complications due to d-wave symmetry in a high temperature superconductor, like low energy quasiparticles and an unconventional current-phase relation, may influence the escape rate. We report, for the first time to our knowledge, the observation of MQT in a YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) grain boundary biepitaxial JJ. This proves that dissipation can be significantly reduced by a proper junction configuration, which is of significance for quantum coherence.