Nondegenerate Josephson Mixers with Enhanced Bandwidth and Saturation Power for Quantum Signal Amplification and Transduction
Baleegh Abdo, Dongbing Shao, Shayne Cairns +6 more
Nondegenerate Josephson mixers (JMs), formed by coupling two different transmission-line resonators to Josephson ring modulators (JRMs), are vital and versatile devices capable of processing microwave signals at the quantum limit. Owing to the lossless nondegenerate three-wave mixing process enabled by the JRM, JMs can perform phase-preserving amplification of quantum signals, generate two-mode squeezed states, and perform noiseless frequency conversion. However, due to their limited bandwidth and saturation power, such resonator-based JMs are generally unable to simultaneously process frequency-multiplexed signals required in large quantum processors. To overcome this longstanding dual challenge, we redesign the JRM parameters by optimizing its inductances to suppress higher order mixing products and engineer its electromagnetic environment by incorporating lumped-element coupled-mode networks between the JRM and the two distinct ports of the JM. By implementing these strategies, we measure for JMs realized with four coupled modes per port, operated in amplification (conversion), bandwidths of about 400 MHz (700 MHz) with power reflections above 10 dB (below − 10 dB) and saturation powers of about − 110 dBm at 15 dB ( − 91 dBm at − 26 dB). Similarly, we demonstrate for a low external quality factor resonant-mode JM operated in conversion, a maximum bandwidth of about 670 MHz with power reflections below − 10 dB and a maximum saturation power of about − 86 dBm at − 17 dB. Such nondegenerate JMs with enhanced bandwidths and saturation powers could serve in a variety of frequency-multiplexed settings ranging from high-fidelity qubit readout and unidirectional routing of quantum signals to the generation of remote entanglement with continuous variables.
arXiv:2508.06636•PRX Quantum•Apr 22, 2026•0 citations