Abstract

The history of discovery of the Josephson effect and the first steps in its study are reviewed. The experiments on tunnelling in superconductors which led to the first direct observation of Josephson electromagnetic radiation at the Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering, Kharkov, in sixties, are described in detail. The experimental data are illustrated by the original curves with the date of their recordings. The physical mechanism of high frequency irradiation in superconducting tunnel junctions is considered. Some of the most promising applications of the nonstationary Josephson effect are briefly described.