Broken symmetry of row switching in 2D Josephson junction arrays

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex dynamic states in 2D Josephson junction arrays, revealing novel percolative voltage patterns and metastable states through experiments and simulations.

Contribution

It introduces the first combined experimental and theoretical analysis of row switching and percolative patterns in 2D Josephson junction arrays.

Findings

Visualization of novel percolative voltage states

Identification of metastable superconducting states

Percolative patterns occur independently of disorder

Abstract

We present an experimental and theoretical study of row switching in two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays. We have observed novel dynamic states with peculiar percolative patterns of the voltage drop inside the arrays. These states were directly visualized using laser scanning microscopy and manifested by fine branching in the current-voltage characteristics of the arrays. Numerical simulations show that such percolative patterns have an intrinsic origin and occur independently of positional disorder. We argue that the appearance of these dynamic states is due to the presence of various metastable superconducting states in arrays.