Phase-Slip Processes in Superconducting Films: AC Josephson Effect and New Phase Transition

Abstract

The resistive direct current state in wide thin superconducting films as the phase transition from superconducting to normal state is investigated in the absence of external magnetic field. We showed that the states of a wide film with increasing transport current appear in the following order: the superconducting state; the resistive vortex state; the critical state; the new vortex-free resistive state with phase-slip lines; the normal state. We detected the Shapiro current steps on the current–voltage characteristic of the wide film, which arise due to interaction of intrinsic Josephson radiation of phase-slip lines with external microwave irradiation.