Insulating Phase in Two-dimensional Josephson-Junction Arrays Investigated by Nonlinear Transport

TL;DR

This study explores the insulating phase of 2D Josephson-junction arrays through nonlinear transport measurements, revealing a crossover behavior influenced by BKT physics and coherent Cooper-pair tunneling.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental analysis of the crossover to insulating behavior in JJAs, incorporating nonlinear I-V characteristics and phase diagram mapping.

Findings

Resistance shows a gradual crossover, not a sharp transition.

Nonlinear I-V behavior consistent with BKT mechanism.

Development of negative differential conductance at low temperatures.

Abstract

We present experimental investigations of transport properties in the insulating phase of two-dimensional Josephson-junction arrays (JJAs) by systematically changing the ratio of Josephson energy $E_\mathrm{J}$ and charging energy $E_\mathrm{C}$. The observed temperature dependence of resistance indicates that the JJAs do not show a sharp phase transition but exhibit a gradual crossover to the insulating phase. At low temperatures, the current-voltage ($I$-$V$) characteristics become nonlinear as described by $I=cV+bV^a$ ($a$, $b$, and $c$ are temperature dependent coefficients). This nonlinear behavior is understood in terms of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) mechanism by taking into account the influence of a finite-range cutoff of the logarithmic interaction between Cooper pairs. From the analysis of the nonlinearity, we deduce the crossover temperature to the insulating phase and determine the phase diagram in the insulating side as a function of $E_\mathrm{J} /E_\mathrm{C}$. We also show that, at very low temperatures, the $I$-$V$ characteristics continuously develop into the negative differential conductance caused by coherent single-Cooper-pair tunneling.