Energetics of an rf SQUID coupled to two thermal reservoirs

Abstract

We study energetics of a Josephson tunnel junction connecting a superconducting loop pierced by an external magnetic flux (an rf SQUID) and coupled to two independent thermal reservoirs of different temperature. In the framework of the theory of quantum dissipative systems, we analyze energy currents in stationary states. The stationary energy flow can be periodically modulated by the external magnetic flux exemplifying the rf SQUID as a quantum heat interferometer. We also consider the transient regime and identify three distinct regimes: monotonic decay, damped oscillations and pulse-Type behavior of energy currents. The first two regimes can be controlled by the external magnetic flux while the last regime is robust against its variation. © 2015 Gardas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited