SmallTalks: Parametric Amplifiers: From Masers to the Quantum Computer Era

​Abstrakt: With the advent of radio communication and astronomy after WWII, low-noise amplification of microwave signals was in demand. Parametric amplifiers based on passive nonlinear elements (capacitors or inductors) promise low noise and wide band. In the 1st part of this talk, we will learn how a parametric amplifier works and review designs and trade-offs. In the 2nd part, state-of-the-art superconducting amplifiers based on Josephson junctions developed for quantum computing and methods of modeling and simulating them will be presented. Analogies with nonlinear optics are made to show how the concepts are interrelated.