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 Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_y. 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 multiple-retrapping 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.