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A travelling-wave parametric amplifier isolator

Nature Electronics volume 8, pages 1089–1098 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Superconducting travelling-wave parametric amplifiers are promising devices for the near-quantum-limited broadband amplification of microwave signals and are essential for high-quantum-efficiency microwave read-out lines. Built-in isolation, as well as gain, could address their primary limitation: a lack of true directionality due to the potential backward travel of electromagnetic radiation to their input port. Here we report a travelling-wave parametric amplifier isolator that is based on Josephson junctions. The approach uses third-order nonlinearity for amplification and second-order nonlinearity for the frequency upconversion of backward-propagating modes to provide reverse isolation. These parametric processes, enhanced by a phase-matching mechanism, exhibit gain of up to 20 dB and reverse isolation of up to 30 dB over a static 3-dB bandwidth greater than 500 MHz and maintain near-quantum-limited added noise.

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Fig. 1: Parametric amplification and isolation in the TWPAI.
Fig. 2: Dynamic phase matching for amplification.
Fig. 3: Isolation utilizing 3WM upconversion.
Fig. 4: Amplification with isolation.
Fig. 5: Efficacy of isolation.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

N.R. and G.L.G. acknowledge funding from European Union’s Horizon Europe 2021–2027 project TruePA (grant agreement number 101080152) and from the French ANR-22-PETQ-0003 grant under the ‘France 2030’ plan. B.F. acknowledges the QMIC project under program DOS0195438/00. We acknowledge M. Esposito for her significant assistance with the sample fabrication and for enlightening discussions. The samples were fabricated at the cleanroom facility Nanofab of Institut Néel in Grenoble. We thank the cleanroom staff and L. Cagnon for their assistance with the device fabrication. We express our gratitude to J. Jarreau, L. Del Rey, D. Dufeu, F. Balestro and W. Wernsdorfer for their support with the experimental equipment. We are grateful to the superconducting quantum circuits group members at Néel Institute for helpful discussions. We thank R. Albert, O. Buisson, A. Coissard, M. Esposito and Q. Ficheux for their critical reading and constructive feedback on the paper. We thank M. Malnou, F. Lecocq and P. Campagne-Ibarcq for insightful discussions.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Guilliam Butseraen

    Present address: Silent Waves, Grenoble, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut Néel, Grenoble, France

    Arpit Ranadive, Bekim Fazliji, Gwenael Le Gal, Giulio Cappelli, Guilliam Butseraen, Edgar Bonet, Eric Eyraud & Nicolas Roch

  2. Silent Waves, Grenoble, France

    Bekim Fazliji, Luca Planat & Nicolas Roch

  3. Institute for Theory of Condensed Matter and Institute for Quantum Materials and Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Sina Böhling & A. Metelmann

  4. Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS, UMR7006), University of Strasbourg and CNRS, Strasbourg, France

    A. Metelmann

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Contributions

A.R., B.F. and N.R. conceptualized the experiment. A.R. fabricated the device and measured in the cryogenic setup with the help of G.L.G., B.F., G.C. and G.B., whereas L.P., E.B., E.E. and N.R. provided support with the measurement setup. A.R. and B.F. analysed the measurement data with the help of G.L.G., G.C. and N.R. A.R. and B.F. performed the simulations with inputs from G.L.G., S.B., A.M. and N.R. A.R., B.F., G.L.G. and N.R. drafted the paper with contributions from all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicolas Roch.

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Competing interests

N.R. and L.P. are founders and shareholders of Silent Waves. A.R., B.F. and G.B. are equity and/or options holders in Silent Waves. The authors associated with Silent Waves have financial interests in the company. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Electronics thanks Nikita Klimovich and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Fabrication process.

The device is fabricated using a double-angle evaporation process to form aluminum Josephson junction arrays on a silicon substrate. This is followed by the deposition of an alumina dielectric layer via atomic layer deposition (ALD), and subsequently, a copper top ground layer is deposited.

Extended Data Fig. 2 The circuit used for WRspice simulations.

The losses were modeled as equivalent series resistors with the ground capacitance. Mutual inductances were used to introduce the flux effect from an external magnetic field across the SNAIL. The orientation of the SNAIL relative to the external magnetic flux was modeled by the direction of the direct current in the inductors.

Extended Data Fig. 3 The experimental setup and measurement configurations.

The experimental setup allowing for forward and backward characterization is shown on the left along with the different configurations used at the base (20 mK) of the cryostat for the calibrations and the measurements on the right.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Loss in the device.

Low power (~ 1 photon) dissipation in the TWPAI at two selected flux values, Φext = 0.19Φ0 and Φext = 0.5Φext.

Extended Data Fig. 5 In situ gain and isolation band tunability.

Various gain and isolation profiles were measured by simply adjusting the corresponding pump frequencies. The red curves represent the gain, while the blue curves indicate the corresponding isolation. The forward (amplification) pump frequencies used were 9 GHz, 9.5 GHz, and 9.15 GHz from left to right. Similarly, the backward (isolation) pump frequencies were 13.71 GHz, 13.85 GHz, and 7.57 GHz in the same order. The external flux applied were Φext = 0.26, 0.19, and 0.35 Φ0 respectively.

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Supplementary Section 1 and Fig. 1.

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Ranadive, A., Fazliji, B., Le Gal, G. et al. A travelling-wave parametric amplifier isolator. Nat Electron 8, 1089–1098 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-025-01489-w

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