Microscopic origin of low-frequency flux noise in josephson circuits

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jun 6;100(22):227005. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.227005. Epub 2008 Jun 5.

Abstract

We analyze the data and discuss their implications for the microscopic origin of the low-frequency flux noise in superconducting circuits. We argue that this noise is produced by spins at superconductor insulator boundary whose dynamics is due to RKKY interaction. We show that this mechanism explains size independence of the noise, different frequency dependences of the spectra reported in large and small SQUIDs, and gives the correct intensity for realistic parameters.