title: The a.c. Josephson effect without superconductivity.
abstract: Superconductivity derives its most salient features from the coherence of the associated macroscopic wave function. The related physical phenomena have now moved from exotic subjects to fundamental building blocks for quantum circuits such as qubits or single photonic modes. Here we predict that the a.c. Josephson effect-which transforms a d.c. voltage Vb into an oscillating signal cos (2eVbt/ħ)-has a mesoscopic counterpart in normal conductors. We show that when a d.c. voltage Vb is applied to an electronic interferometer, there exists a universal transient regime where the current oscillates at frequency eVb/h. This effect is not limited by a superconducting gap and could, in principle, be used to produce tunable a.c. signals in the elusive 0.1-10-THz 'terahertz gap'.
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Grenoble Alpes, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France [2] CEA, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gaury
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Grenoble Alpes, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France [2] CEA, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Grenoble Alpes, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France [2] CEA, INAC-SPSMS, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Waintal