COMPLEX DYNAMICAL BEHAVIOR IN RCL-SHUNTED JOSEPHSON TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS

We report an extensive numerical study of-the nonlinear dynamical effe cts in Josephson tunnel junctions externally shunted by a resistor and an inductor in series. In the three-dimensional parameter space compo sed of the junction capacitance C, shunt inductance L, and the bias cu rrent I, we found the dynamics of the system extremely rich. At relati vely low inductance L, we observe period doubling as well as an interm ittency route to chaos. At higher values of the inductance, long chaot ic transients were observed. We also studied the effect of thermal Joh nson noise in the circuit and discuss the implications of our results in experiments using real Josephson tunnel junctions.