Josephson phase diffusion in small Josephson junctions: a strongly nonlinear regime

Abstract: I present a theoretical study of current-voltage characteristics ($I$-$V$ curves ) of small Josephson junctions. In the limit of a small Josephson coupling energy $E_J \ll k_B T$ the thermal fluctuations result in a stochastic dependence of the Josephson phase $\varphi$ on time, i.e the Josephson phase diffusion. These thermal fluctuations destroy the superconducting state, and the low-voltage resistive state is characterized by a nonlinear $I$-$V$ curve. Such $I$-$V$ curve is determined by the resonant interaction of ac Josephson current with the Josephson phase oscillations excited in the junction. The main frequency of ac Josephson current is $\omega=eV/\hbar$, where $V$ is the voltage drop on the junction. In the phase diffusion regime the Josephson phase oscillations show a broad spectrum of frequencies. The average $I$-$V$ curve is determined by the time-dependent correlations of the Josephson phase. By making use of the method of averaging elaborated in Ref. M. V. Fistul and G. F. Giuliani, Phys. Rev. B 56, 788 (1997), for Josephson junctions with randomly distributed Abrikosov vortices I will be able to obtain two regimes: a linear regime as the amplitudes of excited phase oscillations are small, and a strongly nonlinear regime as both the amplitudes of excited Josephson phase oscillations and the strength of resonant interaction are large. The latter regime can be realized in the case of low dissipation. The crossover between these regimes is analyzed.