Josephson junctions as detectors for non-Gaussian noise

B. Huard (1) , H. Pothier (1) , Norman O. Birge (1) , Daniel Esteve (1) , Xavier Waintal (2) , J. Ankerhold (3)

1 QUANTRONICS - Quantronics Group
2 SPEC - UMR3680 - Service de physique de l'état condensé
3 ITP - Institut für Theoretische Physik

Non-Gaussian fluctuations of the electrical current can be detected with a Josephson junction placed on-chip with the noise source. We present preliminary measurements with an NIS junction as a noise source, and a Josephson junction in the thermal escape regime as a noise detector. It is shown that the Josephson junction detects not only the average noise, which manifests itself as an increased effective temperature, but also the noise asymmetry. A theoretical description of the thermal escape of a Josephson junction in presence of noise with a non-zero third cumulant is presented, together with numerical simulations when the noise source is a tunnel junction with Poisson noise. Comparison between experiment and theory is discussed.

Domaines: Systèmes mésoscopiques et effet Hall quantique [cond-mat.mes-hall]

B. Huard, H. Pothier, Norman O. Birge, Daniel Esteve, Xavier Waintal, et al.. Josephson junctions as detectors for non-Gaussian noise. Annalen der Physik, 2007, 16 (10-11), pp.736-750. ⟨10.1002/andp.200710263⟩. ⟨hal-00185164⟩