EFFECT OF DISORDER ON SYNCHRONIZATION IN PROTOTYPE 2-DIMENSIONAL JOSEPHSON ARRAYS

We study the effects of quenched disorder on the dynamics of two-dimen sional arrays of overdamped Josephson junctions. Disorder in both the junction critical currents and resistances is considered. Analytical r esults for small arrays are used to identify a physical mechanism whic h promotes frequency locking across each row of the array, and to show that no such locking mechanism exists between rows. The intrarow lock ing mechanism is surprisingly strong, so that a row can tolerate large amounts of disorder before frequency locking is destroyed.