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Physical Review A

Observation of parametric amplification and deamplification in a Josephson parametric amplifier

Bernard Yurke, L. R. Corruccini, P. G. Kaminsky, L. W. JUN. RUPP, A. D. Smith, Arnold H. Silver, R. W. Simon, Edward A. Whittaker

Published Mar 1, 1989• 296 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the results of an experimental effort to generate squeezed microwave radiation using the phase-sensitive gain of a Josephson parametric amplifier. To facilitate the interpretation of the experimental results, we first present a discussion of the theory of microwave squeezing via Josephson parametric amplifiers. This is followed by a detailed description of the device fabricated for our experiment. Experimental results are then presented for the device used in both the doubly degenerate or four-photon mode and for the degenerate or three-photon mode. We have observed parametric deamplification of signals by more than 8 dB. We have demonstrated squeezing of 4.2-K thermal noise. When operated at 0.1 K, the amplifier exhibits an excess noise of 0.28 K when referred to the input. This is smaller than the vacuum fluctuation noise level \ensuremath{\Elzxh}\ensuremath{\omega}/2k=0.47 K. The amplifier is thus quieter than a linear phase-insensitive amplifier in principle can be.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.39.2519

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We present the results of an experimental effort to generate squeezed microwave radiation using the phase-sensitive gain of a Josephson parametric amplifier. To facilitate the interpretation of the experimental results, we first present a discussion of the theory of microwave squeezing via Josephson parametric amplifiers. This is followed by a detailed description of the device fabricated for our experiment. Experimental results are then presented for the device used in both the doubly degenerate or four-photon mode and for the degenerate or three-photon mode. We have observed parametric deamplification of signals by more than 8 dB. We have demonstrated squeezing of 4.2-K thermal noise. When operated at 0.1 K, the amplifier exhibits an excess noise of 0.28 K when referred to the input. This is smaller than the vacuum fluctuation noise level \ensuremath{\Elzxh}\ensuremath{\omega}/2k=0.47 K. The amplifier is thus quieter than a linear phase-insensitive amplifier in principle can be.
We are engaged in an experimental effort to generate and detect squeezed vacuum fluctuations at microwave frequencies using a Josephson parametric amplifier. We have demonstrated 42% deamplification of 4.2-K thermal noise at 19.4 GHz. At this frequency the vacuum fluctuation noise is an order of magnitude smaller than 4.2-K thermal noise. We have installed cryogenic HEMT amplifiers in our apparatus, thereby increasing the detector sensitivity by an order of magnitude. Josephson parametric amplifiers have been notorious for exhibiting excess noise whose origin is still controversial. We have performed a systematic study of the noise performance of our device both below and above threshold in a variety of modes of operation. The experiments indicate that the excess noise in our device arises from low-frequency noise (0-20 MHz) propagating down dc bias lines. When an intense coherent oscillation is present in the signal passband, such as the pump when the amplifier is in the four-photon mode or the period doubled oscillations when the amplifier is operated in the three-photon mode above threshold, the low- frequency noise mixes with the coherent oscillation to generate noise sidebands in the amplifier's passband. Nevertheless, in suitable conditions, extremely low noise and high gains were achieved.
The authors observed the squeezing of 4.2 K thermal noise using a Josephson parametric amplifier operated in the degenerate mode at 19.4 GHz. A 42% reduction in the equilibrium noise was observed. The amplifier has also been operated at 0.1 K with an excess noise of 0.28 K referred to the amplifier's input port. This is less than the vacuum fluctuation noise of 0.47 K at the amplifier's input. Recently the amplifier has been operated in a nonchaotic mode with a signal gain in excess of 16 dB.>
The successful generation and detection of squeezed electromagnetic radiation at optical frequencies1 promise to open the door to the exploration of new quantum phenomena, some of which may be technologically useful.2 The generation and detection of squeezed radiation at low frequencies would also open the door to the observation of novel quantum phenomena. We report here on a Josephson parametric amplifier which appears to be well behaved and may be suitable for generating squeezed coherent microwave radiation. The amplifier was operated in the four-photon or doubly degenerate mode,3 and thus its operation is akin to that of an optical four-wave mixer.1
Experiments on generating squeezed microwave radiation at 19.16 GHz using a Josephson parametric amplifier were performed. The source of the radiation was cooled by a dilution refrigerator down to the lowest temperature of 0.030 K. At this temperature, noise at the input port of the parametric amplifier consists almost entirely of the vacuum fluctuations with a noise temperature h nu /2k of 0.46 K. The authors observed the squeezing of the microwave noise by 47+or-8% as referred to the input of the Josephson parametric amplifier. The measured double-sideband noise temperature of the amplifier is 0.446 K, which is comparable to the vacuum noise level.
Degenerate parametric amplifiers (DPAs) exhibit the unique property of phase-sensitive gain and can be used to noiselessly amplify small signals or squeeze field fluctuations beneath the vacuum level. In the microwave domain, these amplifiers have been utilized to measure qubits in elementary quantum processors, search for dark matter, facilitate high-sensitivity spin resonance spectroscopy and have even been proposed as the building blocks for a measurement based quantum computer. Until now, microwave DPAs have almost exclusively been made from nonlinear Josephson junctions, which exhibit high-order nonlinearities that limit their dynamic range and squeezing potential. In this work we investigate a new microwave DPA that exploits a nonlinearity engineered from kinetic inductance. The device has a simple design and displays a dynamic range that is four orders of magnitude greater than state-of-the-art Josephson DPAs. We measure phase sensitive gains up to 50 dB and demonstrate a near-quantum-limited noise performance. Additionally, we show that the higher-order nonlinearities that limit other microwave DPAs are almost non-existent for this amplifier, which allows us to demonstrate its exceptional squeezing potential by measuring the deamplification of coherent states by as much as 26 dB.