Coherent Temporal Oscillations of Macroscopic Quantum States in a Josephson Junction

We report the generation and observation of coherent temporal oscillations between the macroscopic quantum states of a Josephson tunnel junction by applying microwaves with frequencies close to the level separation. Coherent temporal oscillations of excited state populations were observed by monitoring the junction's tunneling probability as a function of time. From the data, the lower limit of phase decoherence time was estimated to be about 5 microseconds.