Subharmonic Shapiro Steps and Assisted Tunneling in Superconducting Point Contacts

Abstract

We analyze the current in a superconducting point contact of arbitrary transmission in the presence of a microwave radiation. The interplay between the ac Josephson current and the microwave signal gives rise to Shapiro steps at voltages V = (m/n)h(omega)(r)/2e, where n,m are integer numbers and omega(r) is the radiation frequency. The subharmonic steps (n not equal 1) are a consequence of multiple Andreev reflections (MAR) and provide a signature of the peculiar ac Josephson effect at high transmission. Moreover, the dc current exhibits a rich subgap structure due to photon-assisted MARs.