Theory of macroscopic quantum tunneling with Josephson-Leggett collective excitations in multiband superconducting Josephson junctions

Asai, Hidehiro*; Ota, Yukihiro; Kawabata, Shiro*; Machida, Masahiko  ; Nori, F.*

Collective excitations reveal fundamental properties and potential applications of superconducting states. We study macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in a Josephson junction composed of multiband superconductors, focusing on a phase mode induced by interband fluctuations: the Josephson-Leggett (JL) collective excitation mode. We derive a formula for the MQT escape rate for low-temperature switching events, carefully treating this collective mode. We clarify that the JL mode has two major effects on the MQT: (1) the zero-point fluctuations enhance the escape rate, and (2) the quantum dissipation induced by the couplings to the gauge-invariant phase difference suppresses the quantum tunneling. We show that the enhancement exceeds the suppression for a wide range of junction parameters. This enhancement originates from the single-mode interaction between the tunneling variable and the interband fluctuations.