The effects of the presence of quantized energy levels in the problem of the (V=0)-state decay in Josephson junctions have been investigated. The analysis has been extended to the case of nonstationary conditions. As a result, the dependences of both the decay rate and the switching-current distribution on the bias current are strongly modified with respect to those obtained in stationary conditions. The investigation is carreid out for various working conditions and junction parameters.

• Received 29 June 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.41.7341