Dissipation Effects of the Phase in Higher Order Switching Events of Intrinsic Josephson Junctions

We report a study on the phase switching dynamics of small intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) built in a narrow bridge of single crystalline Bi
₂
Sr
₂
CaCu
₂
Oy. We focus on the higher order switches from the finite resistive states in the multiple-branched I-V curves. In contrast to the first switch (1st SW), i.e., a switch from the zero voltage state to the first resistive state, the phase switching rates for higher order switches such as the 3rd SW and the 4th SW show a large deviation from the conventional exponential behavior as a function of bias current. These behaviors were successfully explained by considering the multipleretrapping processes after the phase escape. We discuss that the dissipation in the higher order switch plays an important role in the multiple phase retrappings rather than the self-heating of IJJs.