Static Properties of Small Josephson Tunnel Junctions in an Oblique Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates the static properties of small Josephson tunnel junctions in arbitrary magnetic fields, revealing how their behavior can be understood through superposition of in-plane and transverse field effects, with implications for applications and experimental accuracy.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the behavior of small Josephson junctions in oblique magnetic fields can be explained by superimposing in-plane and transverse field effects, providing a unified understanding.

Findings

Most experimental results in oblique fields are reproducible via superposition principles.

Transverse magnetic fields can significantly affect junction behavior, with potential applications or perturbations.

The study suggests possible systematic errors in previous experiments due to transverse field effects.

Abstract

We have carried out a detailed experimental investigation of the static properties of planar Josephson tunnel junctions in presence of a uniform external magnetic field applied in an arbitrary orientation with respect to the barrier plane. We considered annular junctions, as well as rectangular junctions (having both overlap and cross-type geometries) with different barrier aspect ratios. It is shown how most of the experimental findings in an oblique field can be reproduced invoking the superposition principle to combine the classical behavior of electrically small junctions in an in-plane field together with the small junction behavior in a transverse field that we recently published [R. Monaco et al., J. Appl. Phys. vol 104, 023906 (2008)]. We explore the implications of these results in supposing systematic errors in previous experiments and in proposing new possible applications. We show that the presence of a transverse field may have important consequences, which could be either voluntarily exploited in applications or present an unwanted perturbation.