Parametric amplification in a Josephson junction array Fabry-Pérot cavity

Journal article

Superconducting Parametric Amplifiers (SPAs) with near-quantum-limited added noise are crucial for weak signal detection applications such as astronomical receivers, quantum computation, and fundamental physics experiments. Commercially available SPAs include Josephson Parametric Amplifiers (JPAs), which offer high gain but narrow bandwidth performance; and Josephson-junction Travelling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (JTWPAs), which provide broader bandwidth at the cost of a complicated fabrication procedure, lower fabrication yield, and larger footprint area. In this paper, we investigate the parametric amplification of microwave signals in a Josephson array embedded in a low-Q Fabry-Pérot cavity. We fabricated a 500-junction array device and measured >15 dB phase-preserving gain over a ∼350 MHz bandwidth, while offering almost two orders of magnitude improvement in compression point (P1dB = −106.2 dBm) compared to standard JPAs. Furthermore, using a novel measurement technique, we configured our device to operate in the phase-sensitive mode, measuring a phase-sensitive extinction ratio (PSER) of 42.3 ± 2.81 dB, in line with state-of-the-art values for JPAs. These promising performances, combined with the ease of fabrication and improved yield compared with JTWPAs, underscore the potential of these devices for applications in advanced detection schemes.

Authors: Montilla, JN; Klimovich, N; Barbier, A; Driessen, EFC; Tan, B

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Physica Scripta
• Volume: 100
• Issue: 9
• Article number: 095016
• Publication date: 2025-09-22
• Acceptance date: 2025-09-05
• DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/ae03f0
• EISSN: 1402-4896
• ISSN: 0031-8949
• Language: English
• Keywords: Phase-sensitive amplification; Fabry-Pérot resonator; Josephson arrays; Superconducting device; parametric amplification