Resonance phenomena in the annular array of underdamped Josephson junctions

TL;DR

This paper investigates resonance phenomena in annular underdamped Josephson junctions, revealing how fluxon dynamics and excitations influence zero field steps and their branching in current-voltage characteristics.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how fluxon and antifluxon interactions and trapped fluxons affect resonance and zero field steps in Josephson junctions.

Findings

Zero field steps are caused by locking between excitations and Josephson frequency.

Branching of zero field steps depends on the number and type of excitations.

The dynamics are influenced by whether fluxons, antifluxons, or trapped fluxons are present.

Abstract

Appearance and origin of resonance phenomena have been studied in the annular system of underdamped Josephson junctions. If no fluxon is trapped in the system, dynamics is governed by the motion of fluxon-antifluxon pairs, while if trapped fluxons are present, they can move solely but also simultaneously with the pairs. Locking between the rotating excitations (fluxons and antifluxons) and the Josephson frequency leads to the appearance of zero field steps in the current-voltage characteristics, which can further exhibit branching due to resonance between the rotating excitations and plasma oscillations in their tale. The number of zero field steps and their branching are strongly determined by the total number of excitations present in the system. High resolution analysis further reveals not only some interesting properties of zero field steps, but also shows that the current-voltage characteristics is determined not only by the number, but also by the type of excitations, i.e., whether the dynamics is governed only by the motion of fluxon-antifluxon pairs or the trapped fluxons, or they move simultaneously in the system.