No Arabic abstract
We consider the problem of two capacitively coupled Josephson junction arrays made of ultrasmall junctions. Each one of the arrays can be in the semiclassical or quantum regimes, depending on their physical parameter values. The former case is dominated by a Cooper-pair superfluid while the quantum one is dominated by dynamic vortices leading to an insulating behavior. We first consider the limit when both arrays are in the semiclassical limit, and next the case when one array is quantum and the other semiclassical. We present WKB and Mean Field theory results for the critical temperature of each array when both are in the semiclassical limit. When one array is in the semiclassical regime and the other one in the quantum fluctuations dominated regimes, we derive a duality transformation between the charged and vortex dominated arrays that involve a gauge vector field, which is proportional to the site coupling capacitance between the arrays. The system considered here has been fabricated and we make some predictions as to possible experimentally measurable quantities that could be compared with theory.
We have studied a quantum Hamiltonian that models an array of ultrasmall Josephson junctions with short range Josephson couplings, $E_J$, and charging energies, $E_C$, due to the small capacitance of the junctions. We derive a new effective quantum spherical model for the array Hamiltonian. As an application we start by approximating the capacitance matrix by its self-capacitive limit and in the presence of an external uniform background of charges, $q_x$. In this limit we obtain the zero-temperature superconductor-insulator phase diagram, $E_J^{rm crit}(E_C,q_x)$, that improves upon previous theoretical results that used a mean field theory approximation. Next we obtain a closed-form expression for the conductivity of a square array, and derive a universal scaling relation valid about the zero--temperature quantum critical point. In the latter regime the energy scale is determined by temperature and we establish universal scaling forms for the frequency dependence of the conductivity.
We have studied the phase diagram of two capacitively coupled Josephson junction arrays with charging energy, $E_c$, and Josephson coupling energy, $E_J$. Our results are obtained using a path integral Quantum Monte Carlo algorithm. The parameter that quantifies the quantum fluctuations in the i-th array is defined by $alpha_iequiv frac{E_{{c}_i}}{E_{J_i}}$. Depending on the value of $alpha_i$, each independent array may be in the semiclassical or in the quantum regime: We find that thermal fluctuations are important when $alpha lesssim 1.5 $ and the quantum fluctuations dominate when $2.0 lesssim alpha $. We have extensively studied the interplay between vortex and charge dominated individual array phases. The two arrays are coupled via the capacitance $C_{{rm inter}}$ at each site of the lattices. We find a {it reentrant transition} in $Upsilon(T,alpha)$, at low temperatures, when one of the arrays is in the semiclassical limit (i.e. $alpha_{1}=0.5 $) and the quantum array has $2.0 leqalpha_{2} leq 2.5$, for the values considered for the interlayer capacitance. In addition, when $3.0 leq alpha_{2} < 4.0$, and for all the inter-layer couplings considered above, a {it novel} reentrant phase transition occurs in the charge degrees of freedom, i.e. there is a reentrant insulating-conducting transition at low temperatures. We obtain the corresponding phase diagrams and found some features that resemble those seen in experiments with 2D JJA.
We have developed a quantitative theory of Cooper pair pumping in gated one-dimensional arrays of Josephson junctions. The pumping accuracy is limited by quantum tunneling of Cooper pairs out of the propagating potential well and by direct supercurrent flow through the array. Both corrections decrease exponentially with the number N of junctions in the array, but give a serious limitation of accuracy for any practical array. The supercurrent at resonant gate voltages decreases with N only as sin(v/N)/N, where v is the Josephson phase difference across the array.
The Hamiltonian operator for an unbiased array of Josephson junctions with gate voltages is constructed when only Cooper pair tunnelling and charging effects are taken into account. The supercurrent through the system and the pumped current induced by changing the gate voltages periodically are discussed with an emphasis on the inaccuracies in the Cooper pair pumping. Renormalisation of the Hamiltonian operator is used in order to reliably parametrise the effects due to inhomogeneity in the array and non-ideal gating sequences. The relatively simple model yields an explicit, testable prediction based on three experimentally motivated and determinable parameters.
Using a new cluster Monte Carlo algorithm, we study the phase diagram and critical properties of an interacting pair of resistively shunted Josephson junctions. This system models tunneling between two electrodes through a small superconducting grain, and is described by a double sine-Gordon model. In accordance with theoretical predictions, we observe three different phases and crossover effects arising from an intermediate coupling fixed point. On the superconductor-to-metal phase boundary, the observed critical behavior is within error-bars the same as in a single junction, with identical values of the critical resistance and a correlation function exponent which depends only on the strength of the Josephson coupling. We explain these critical properties on the basis of a renormalization group (RG) calculation. In addition, we propose an alternative new mean-field theory for this transition, which correctly predicts the location of the phase boundary at intermediate Josephson coupling strength.