Noiseless nonreciprocity in a parametric active device

Abstract

Nonreciprocal devices such as circulators and isolators belong to an important class of microwave components employed in applications like the measurement of mesoscopic circuits at cryogenic temperatures. The measurement protocols usually involve an amplification chain which relies on circulators to separate input and output channels and to suppress backaction from different stages on the sample under test. In these devices the usual reciprocal symmetry of circuits is broken by the phenomenon of Faraday rotation based on magnetic materials and fields. However, magnets are averse to on-chip integration, and magnetic fields are deleterious to delicate superconducting devices. Here we present a new proposal combining two stages of parametric modulation emulating the action of a circulator. It is devoid of magnetic components and suitable for on-chip integration. As the design is free of any dissipative elements and based on reversible operation, the device operates noiselessly, giving it an important advantage over other nonreciprocal active devices for quantum information processing applications.

17 pages, 4 figures + 12 pages Supplementary Information

References in corpus (10)

• Quantum Computing
• Demonstration of Two-Qubit Algorithms with a Superconducting Quantum Processor
• Time-reversal symmetry breaking in circuit-QED based photon lattices
• A widely tunable parametric amplifier based on a SQUID array resonator
• Quantum Non-demolition Detection of Single Microwave Photons in a Circuit
• Single-shot qubit readout in circuit Quantum Electrodynamics
• Single-shot qubit readout in circuit Quantum Electrodynamics
• Dephasing of a superconducting flux qubit
• Signal-to-pump back-action and self-oscillation in Double-Pump Josephson Parametric Amplifier
• Phase-locking transition in a chirped superconducting Josephson resonator