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Escape Time of Josephson Junctions for Signal Detection

In this Chapter we investigate with the methods of signal detection the response of a Josephson junction to a perturbation to decide if the perturbation contains a coherent oscillation embedded in the background noise. When a Josephson Junction is irradiated by an external noisy source, it eventually leaves the static state and reaches a steady voltage state. The appearance of a voltage step allows to measure the time spent in the metastable state before the transition to the running state, thus defining an escape time. The distribution of the escape times depends upon the characteristics of the noise and the Josephson junction. Moreover, the properties of the distribution depends on the features of the signal (amplitude, frequency and phase), which can be therefore inferred through the appropriate signal processing methods. Signal detection with JJ is interesting for practical purposes, inasmuch as the superconductive elements can be (in principle) cooled to the absolute zero and therefore can add (in practice) as little intrinsic noise as refrigeration allows. It is relevant that the escape times bear a hallmark of the noise itself. The spectrum of the fluctuations due to the intrinsic classical (owed to thermal or environmental disturbances) or quantum (due to the tunnel across the barrier) sources are different. Therefore, a careful analysis of the escape times could also assist to discriminate the nature of the noise.