Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-major-option-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/6/e/solution

Let be the junction length perpendicular to the width and be uniform. Put . Integrating the local current-phase relation of a superconducting weak link over the junction gives
The odd-in- term integrates to zero. At fixed central phase , define . Then
The value at zero flux is the continuous limit, and zeros occur at nonzero integer multiples of . This signed formula is the source's expression for a fixed phase. If the measured quantity is the maximum sustainable current, maximize over the central phase instead:
For example, at the signed coefficient is , whereas the critical current is positive. The absolute-value envelope is the Fraunhofer pattern of a Josephson junction, shown in the right panel of the original tunnelling figure. Its simple form relies on uniform and the linear phase profile; it is not the two-junction cosine pattern of a DC SQUID.

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