Gate-tunable kinetic inductance parametric amplifier

TL;DR

This paper introduces a gate-tunable, Josephson-junction-free superconducting parametric amplifier using a proximitized semiconducting nanowire, achieving high gain, broad bandwidth, and magnetic field compatibility for quantum measurement applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel semiconductor-based, gate-tunable parametric amplifier that operates without Josephson junctions, offering advantages in power handling, magnetic field resilience, and tunability.

Findings

Over 20 dB gain achieved

30 MHz gain-bandwidth product demonstrated

Operates under magnetic fields up to 500 mT

Abstract

Superconducting parametric amplifiers play a crucial role in the preparation and readout of quantum states at microwave frequencies, enabling high-fidelity measurements of superconducting qubits. Most existing implementations of these amplifiers rely on the nonlinearity from Josephson junctions, superconducting quantum interference devices or disordered superconductors. Additionally, frequency tunability arises typically from either flux or current biasing. In contrast, semiconductor-based parametric amplifiers are tunable by local electric fields, which impose a smaller thermal load on the cryogenic setup than current and flux biasing and lead to vanishing crosstalk to other on-chip quantum systems. In this work, we present a gate-tunable parametric amplifier that operates without Josephson junctions, utilizing a proximitized semiconducting nanowire. This design achieves near-quantum-limited performance, featuring more than 20 dB gain and a 30 MHz gain-bandwidth product. The absence of Josephson junctions allows for advantages, including substantial saturation powers of -120dBm, magnetic field compatibility up to 500 mT and frequency tunability over a range of 15 MHz. Our realization of a parametric amplifier supplements efforts towards gate-controlled superconducting electronics, further advancing the abilities for high-performing quantum measurements of semiconductor-based and superconducting quantum devices.