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Microwave radiometry of a quantum-critical hybrid Josephson array

Kristen W. Léonard1,†, Anton V. Bubis1,†, Melissa Mikalsen2, William F. Schiela2, Bassel H. Elfeky2, William M. Strickland2, Duc Phan1, Javad Shabani2, and Andrew P. Higginbotham3,1,*

  • *Contact author: ahigginbotham@uchicago.edu
  • †These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014031 – Published 10 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/75bl-mm3b

Abstract

Arrays of Josephson junctions can be tuned through anomalous metallic, quantum-critical, and insulating regimes. We introduce an alternative experimental probe, capturing microwave radiation across all three regimes, using a two-dimensional array of superconductor-semiconductor hybrid Josephson junctions as a model system. Our approach allows in situ calibration of the sample’s circuit parameters and provides isolation from measurement back-action effects. We measure the radiation temperature of the anomalous metal and find that it is hotter than both the quantum-critical and insulating regimes. We further show that the anomalous metallic regime is more susceptible to additional heating than other regimes, explaining its emergence in otherwise thermalized systems. Turning to the quantum-critical regime, we discover nonlinear scaling of radiative noise with applied bias, consistent with theoretical predictions of universal nonequilibrium behavior at quantum-critical points.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 014031– Published 10 July, 2026
  • Received 28 August 2025
  • Revised 6 February 2026
  • Accepted 1 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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