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Journal of Applied Physics

Parametric amplification of radiation by the intrinsic Josephson effect

Ch. Preis, Manas Sardar, J. Keller

Published Jan 1, 1997• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The use of the intrinsic Josephson effect in layered high-Tc superconductors for parametric amplification of a signal in the presence of a strong pump radiation is investigated. Model calculations are performed both for thin films and massive material with a surface parallel to the c direction assuming normal incidence of the radiation with electric field parallel in c direction. In both cases a positive signal gain is obtained in a limited range of frequencies and pump power.

DOI
10.1063/1.364112

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Comment on "Parametric amplification in Josephson junction embedded transmission lines"

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Applied Physics Letters•Mar 15, 1977•28 citations
The use of the intrinsic Josephson effect in layered high-Tc superconductors for parametric amplification of a signal in the presence of a strong pump radiation is investigated. Model calculations are performed both for thin films and massive material with a surface parallel to the c direction assuming normal incidence of the radiation with electric field parallel in c direction. In both cases a positive signal gain is obtained in a limited range of frequencies and pump power.
We investigate the response of a stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) to terahertz (THz) electromagnetic (EM) irradiation. A significant amplification of the EM wave can be achieved by the IJJs stack when the incident frequency equals to one of the cavity frequencies. The irradiation excites $\ensuremath{\pi}$-phase kinks in the junctions, which stimulate the cavity resonance when the bias voltage is tuned. A large amount of dc energy is then pumped into the Josephson plasma oscillation and the incident wave gets amplified. From the profound current step in IVIVIV characteristics induced at the cavity resonance, the system can also be used for detection of the THz wave.
An analysis is presented describing four-photon parametric amplification in an unbiased Josephson junction. Central to the theory is the model of the Josephson effect as a nonlinear inductance. Linear, small signal analysis is applied to the « two fluid » model of the Josephson junction. The gain, gain-bandwidth product, high frequency limit and effective noise temperature is calculated for a cavity reflection amplifier. The analysis is extended to multiple (series-connected) junctions and sub-harmonic pumping.
Recently Yaakobi and co-workers [Phys. Rev. B 87, 144301 (2013)] theoretically studied four-wave mixing and parametric amplification in a nonlinear transmission line consisting of capacitively shunted Josephson junctions. By deriving and solving the coupled-mode equations, they have arrived at the conclusion that in a wide frequency range around the pump frequency exponential parametric gain (in which the signal grows exponentially with distance) can be achieved. However, we have found a mathematical error in their derivation of the coupled-mode equations (Equation (A13)), which leads to the wrong expression of the gain factor and invalidates their conclusions on the gain and bandwidth. In this comment, we present the correct expression for the parametric gain. We show that for a transmission line with weak dispersion or positive dispersion ($Δk>0 $), as is the case discussed by Yaakobi et al, while quadratic (power) gain can occur around the pump frequency, exponential gain is impossible. Furthermore, for a transmission line with proper intrinsic or engineered dispersion, exponential gain occurs at frequencies where the phase matching condition is met, while around the pump frequency the gain is still quadratic.
Abstract Superconducting parametric amplifiers are commonly fabricated using planar transmission lines with a nonlinear inductance provided by either Josephson junctions or the intrinsic kinetic inductance of the thin film. However, Banys et al. (J Low Temp Phys, 2020) reported nonlinear behaviour in a niobium pillbox cavity, hypothesising that below TcT_cTc​ T c , the pair iris-bulk resonator would act as a superconducting contact surface exploiting a Josephson-like nonlinearity. This work investigates this effect further by applying Keysight Technologies’ Advanced Design System (ADS) to simulate the cavity using an equivalent circuit model that includes a user defined Josephson inductance component. The simulations show that for a resonance centred at ν0=30.649\nu _0=30.649ν0​=30.649 ν 0 = 30.649 GHz, when two tones (pump and signal) are injected into the cavity, mixing and parametric gain occur. The maximum achievable gain is explored when the resonator is taken to its bifurcation energy. These results are compared to cryogenic measurements where the pump and the signal are provided by a Vector Network Analyzer.
Spectral properties of rf radiation from intrinsic Josephson junctions in high Tc Y-Ba-Cu-O thin film have been measured in the frequency range up to 1.5 GHz. Narrow emission lines with the 3 dB bandwidth of the order of 20 MHz were detected indicating that Josephson clusters radiate coherently. Synchronization conditions are determined by dc current and external magnetic field bias. Frequency locking of radiation to external resonant circuit was also observed. Spectral line narrowing due to resonant lock was distinguished from the coherence-induced narrowing by different tuning properties of the emission line. Noncoherent Josephson radiation manifests itself as a broadband background noise increase. A pronounced 1/f-like tail sensitive to dc bias and magnetic field was observed in a low frequency part of the spectrum.