Parametric Amplification at Ka Band via Nonlinear Dynamics in Superconducting 3D Cavities
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Parametric Amplification at Ka Band via Nonlinear Dynamics in Superconducting 3D Cavities D. Banys1 · M. A. McCulloch1 · S. Azzoni1 · B. Cooper1 · A. J. May1,2,3 · S. J. Melhuish1 · L. Piccirillo1,4 · J. Wenninger1 Received: 21 August 2019 / Accepted: 3 March 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Modern parametric amplifiers are based on lithographically produced superconducting thin-film planar transmission line structures. These paramps rely on resonant structures with embedded nonlinear elements to stimulate intermodulation with a stronger pump tone that gives rise to signal gain when certain conditions are satisfied. Such paramps have not yet been realised in superconducting 3D waveguide resonators. Possible applications of these devices include detector systems that are based on 3D waveguide such as dark matter detectors and quantum computers. Reported here are the results of an investigation of a 30.64 GHz series circular waveguide resonance machined from bulk niobium showing parametric gain of up to 2 dB in the presence of a stronger pump tone 10 kHz above in frequency. The gain is largest on abrupt jumps of the transmission spectra of the resonance, which may be a result of weak-link formation on the superconducting surfaces. Keywords Ka band · Parametric amplifier · Superconducting 3D cavity · Circular waveguide
1 Introduction In the last decade, a re-emerging type of low-noise amplifier (LNA) has been extensively investigated in the microwave frequency domain, that is, the parametric amplifier. These paramps promise high wideband gain with high dynamic ranges * D. Banys [email protected] 1
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
2
STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Warrington WA4 4AD, UK
3
Cockcroft Institute, Keckwick Lane, Warrington WA4 4AD, UK
4
Engineering Research Institute Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (ERI VIRAC), University of Applied Sciences (VUAS), Inzenieru Street 101, Ventspils LV‑3601, Latvia
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Low Temperature Physics
and quantum-limited noise performance. Most modern paramps make use of superconducting transmission lines (STLs) such as co-planar waveguides (CPWs) or microstrips with embedded nonlinear elements to enable parametric gain. Commonly, Josephson junctions (JJs) [1, 2] or weak links [3, 4] which exhibit an inductance that is nonlinear with current are exploited. However, due to their low critical currents, these extrinsic nonlinear elements greatly limit the dynamic range of the amplifier which makes these devices inappropriate for many high power or multiplexing applications. The dynamical range can be increased by several orders of magnitude by instead exploiting the intrinsic nonlinear kinetic inductance (KI) of STLs [5], which is greatly enhanced in thin superconducting (SC) films. The early modern paramps made use of a resonant cavity [1, 3, 4] to provide high gain with noise levels that were below that of vacuum fluctuations when noise squeezi
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