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We present intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy measurements on small Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x mesas. The tunnel conductance curves show both sharp peaks at the superconducting gap voltage and broad humps representing the c-axis pseudogap. The superconducting gap vanishes at Tc, while the pseudogap exists both above and below Tc. Our observation implies that the superconducting and pseudogaps represent different coexisting phenomena.

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The escape rate from the zero voltage state in a superconducting Josephson junction (JJ) is determined by the temperature, but it saturates at low temperature due to macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT). Complications due to d-wave symmetry in a high temperature superconductor, like low energy quasiparticles and an unconventional current-phase relation, may influence the escape rate. We report, for the first time to our knowledge, the observation of MQT in a YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) grain boundary biepitaxial JJ. This proves that dissipation can be significantly reduced by a proper junction configuration, which is of significance for quantum coherence.