Experimental results on the metastability of the resistive state in Josephson junctions

The authors report experimental results on the metastability of both the V=0 and the V≠0 states in Josephson junctions. A comparative analysis of both the decay mechanisms at various values of the Josephson coupling energy makes it possible to obtain useful information on the relevant parameters in the lifetime expression of the V≠0 state. In particular, cases were investigated where the lifetime of the V=0 state is comparable with the lifetime of the V≠0 state. This situation is experimentally realized by applying an appropriate magnetic field. Experimental data show good agreement with theory for junctions with a low level of damping. As the hysteresis parameter increases, discrepancies appear