Phase-sensitive cascade quantum amplifier with nearly noiseless operation
Abstract
Phase-sensitive parametric devices enable quadrature-selective amplification with the potential for sub-quantum-limited noise performance. In this work, we investigate the operation of a SQUID-based Josephson Parametric Amplifier (JPA), comparing its performance in the phase-preserving and phase-sensitive regimes. The device, fabricated using VTT SWAPS technology, is driven in a three-wave mixing configuration and characterized in a reflection-based measurement setup at millikelvin temperatures. To directly probe the noise performance at low JPA gains, we employ a cascaded amplification scheme in which a Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifier (TWPA) provides low-noise pre-amplification of the JPA output. In a phase-preserving operation, the JPA exhibits near-quantum-limited performance with a system noise temperature of 351±53 mK at 6 GHz. In contrast, phase-sensitive operation yields a minimum system noise temperature of 94±12 mK, well below the standard quantum limit of 288 mK. Our results demonstrate that a JPA-TWPA amplifier cascade opens the door to direct, high-fidelity probing of quantum devices without the need for background noise subtraction.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{lilja2026phasesensitive,
title = {{Phase-sensitive cascade quantum amplifier with nearly noiseless operation}},
author = {Ilari Lilja and Ekaterina Mukhanova and Michael Perelshtein and Kirill Petrovnin and Stanislav Khaldeev and Visa Vesterinen and Gheorghe Sorin Paraoanu and Pertti Hakonen},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.25645},
eprint = {2608.25645},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.25645},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Phase-sensitive cascade quantum amplifier with nearly noiseless operation
AU - Ilari Lilja
AU - Ekaterina Mukhanova
AU - Michael Perelshtein
AU - Kirill Petrovnin
AU - Stanislav Khaldeev
AU - Visa Vesterinen
AU - Gheorghe Sorin Paraoanu
AU - Pertti Hakonen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/26
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.25645
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.25645
AB - Phase-sensitive parametric devices enable quadrature-selective amplification with the potential for sub-quantum-limited noise performance. In this work, we investigate the operation of a SQUID-based Josephson Parametric Amplifier (JPA), comparing its performance in the phase-preserving and phase-sensitive regimes. The device, fabricated using VTT SWAPS technology, is driven in a three-wave mixing configuration and characterized in a reflection-based measurement setup at millikelvin temperatures. To directly probe the noise performance at low JPA gains, we employ a cascaded amplification scheme in which a Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifier (TWPA) provides low-noise pre-amplification of the JPA output. In a phase-preserving operation, the JPA exhibits near-quantum-limited performance with a system noise temperature of 351±53 mK at 6 GHz. In contrast, phase-sensitive operation yields a minimum system noise temperature of 94±12 mK, well below the standard quantum limit of 288 mK. Our results demonstrate that a JPA-TWPA amplifier cascade opens the door to direct, high-fidelity probing of quantum devices without the need for background noise subtraction.
ER -