A Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier for Quantum Coherent Signal Processing

Josephson traveling wave parametric amplifiers have enabled ultra-sensitive detection of microwave photons in radio astronomy and real-time readout of superconducting quantum bits. To achieve a large gain, the interaction time with the non-linearity of the amplifier needs to be maximized. Traveling wave parametric amplifiers exhibit long interaction times by providing long propagation paths, enabling a greater gain and higher bandwidths than other microwave parametric amplifiers. In the case of the degenerate Josephson parametric amplifier (DJPA) below threshold of parametric oscillation, a squeezed vacuum state can be generated, and above threshold a second bifurcation point exists, where the device generates amplitude squeezed radiation.