Coherent response of a low-T-c Josephson junction to an ultrafast laser pulse

By irradiating with a single ultrafast laser pulse a superconducting electrode of a Josephson junction, it is possible to drive the quasiparticles (qp's) distribution strongly out of equilibrium. The behavior of the Josephson device can, thus, be modified on a fast time scale, shorter than the qp's relaxation time. This could be very useful, in that it allows fast control of Josephson charge qubits and, in general, of all Josephson devices. If the energy released to the top layer contact S1 of the junction is of the order of similar tomuJ, the coherence is not degradated because the perturbation is very fast. Within the framework of the quasiclassical Keldysh Green's function theory, we find that the order parameter of S1 decreases. We study the perturbed dynamics of the junction, when the current bias is close to the critical current, by integrating numerically its classical equation of motion. The optical ultrafast pulse can produce switchings of the junction from the Josephson state to the voltage state. The switches can be controlled by tuning the laser light intensity, the pulse duration, and the bias current of the Josephson junction.