Macroscopic quantum effects in the zero voltage state of the current biased Josephson junction

When a weak microwave current is applied to a current-biased Josephson tunnel junction in the thermal limit the escape rate from the zero voltage state is enhanced when the microwave frequency is near the plasma frequency of the junction. The resonance curve is markedly asymmetric because of the anharmonic properties of the potential well: this behavior is well explained by a computer simulation using a resistively shunted junction model. This phenomenon of resonant activation enables one to make in situ measurements of the capacitance and resistance shunting the junction, including contributions from the complex impedance presented by the current leads. For the relatively large area junctions studied in these experiments, the external capacitive loading was relatively unimportant, but the damping was entirely dominated by the external resistance