Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 147, 333-342 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00216-6

Classical analogs for Rabi-oscillations, Ramsey-fringes, and spin-echo in Josephson junctions

¹ Department of Applied Science, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA
² Dipartimento di Fisica and INFM, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, 00173 Roma, Italy

Abstract

We investigate the results of recently published experiments on the quantum behavior of Josephson circuits in terms of the classical modeling based on the resistively and capacitively-shunted (RCSJ) junction model. Our analysis shows evidence for a close analogy between the nonlinear behavior of a pulsed microwave-driven Josephson junction at low temperature and low dissipation and the experimental observations reported for the Josephson circuits. Specifically, we demonstrate that Rabi-oscillations, Ramsey-fringes, and spin-echo observations are not phenomena with a unique quantum interpretation. In fact, they are natural consequences of transients to phase-locking in classical nonlinear dynamics and can be observed in a purely classical model of a Josephson junction when the experimental recipe for the application of microwaves is followed and the experimental detection scheme followed. We therefore conclude that classical nonlinear dynamics can contribute to the understanding of relevant experimental observations of Josephson response to various microwave perturbations at very low temperature and low dissipation.