On the mechanism of dissipation in the internal Josephson effect in layered superconductors at low temperatures

The current-voltage characteristics (IVCs) of a layered superconductor with singlet d pairing at low temperatures are calculated in the internal Josephson effect (IJE) regime. Coherent electron tunneling between layers is assumed. A finite resistance of the superconductor in the resistive state arises because of quasiparticle transitions through the superconducting gap near nodes. Because of charge effects the interaction of the Josephson junctions formed by the layers does not lead to substantial differences in the shapes of different branches of the IVCs. The model describes the basic qualitative features of the effect in high-temperature superconductors for voltages which are low compared with the amplitude of the superconducting gap.