A Josephson junction may be in a stable odd-parity state when a single quasiparticle is trapped in an Andreev bound state. Embedding such junction in an electromagnetic environment gives rise to a special quantum mechanics of the superconducting phase that we investigate theoretically. Our analysis covers several representative cases, from the lifting of the supercurrent quench due to quasiparticle poisoning for a low ohmic impedance of the environment, to a Schmid transition in a current-biased junction that for odd parity occurs at four times bigger critical impedance. For intermediate impedances, the supercurrent in the odd state is higher than in the even one.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Andreev reflection
• Bound states
• Josephson effect
• Odd-frequency superconductivity
• Superconducting devices
• Tunnel junctions