Michel H. Devoret coauthored a 1985 measurement of macroscopic quantum tunnelling in a current-biased Josephson junction. At higher temperatures, escape from the zero-voltage state characterized the junction in a thermal regime. At low temperatures, the escape rate stopped depending on temperature and agreed with the predicted quantum escape rate using those independently determined parameters. The comparison supplied quantitative evidence for tunnelling of the collective circuit coordinate, rather than merely observing an unexplained low-temperature switching rate.[ref]
Portrait of Michel H. Devoret
. Portrait identified on the cited institutional profile. Source.
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