Influence of low-frequency noise on macroscopic quantum tunneling in superconducting circuits

Abstract

The influence of low to moderate frequency environments on Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling (MQT) in superconducting circuits is studied within the Im-F approach to evaluate tunneling rates. Particular attention is paid to two model environments, namely, a pure sluggish bath and a sluggish bath with additional 1/f-noise. General findings are applied to Zener flip tunneling, a MQT phenomenon recently predicted and observed in a superconducting circuit implementing a quantum bit.