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ALMA is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
Above: ALMA is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.

Parametric Amplifier

Boosting the Signal

First demonstrated in 2012, a breakthrough in superconducting parametric amplifier (paramp) design at JPL offers the promise of near-quantum-limited noise temperature with more than ½ octave of bandwidth for receivers operating below ~1 THz. Since 2012, the gain and noise of the paramps operating around 10 GHz have steadily improved, with single-stage amplifiers now achieving around 15 dB wideband gain with an added noise that is near the quantum limit of around one half a photon per second per Hz bandwidth.

The current focus is to apply the new amplifier concept to the millimeter and submillimeter bands with near-term work focused on testing an amplifier designed for an upgrade for the ALMA band 3 (84–116 GHz), currently operating in northern Chile. This work will serve as a stepping-stone towards paramps working at higher frequencies in support of future NASA missions.

MDL’s paramp research was featured on the cover Nature Physics. Volume 8 Issue 8, August 2012.
A section of a W-band traveling-wave kinetic inductance parametric (TKIP) amplifier. It consists of a 0.15 m length of NbTiN coplanar waveguide (CPW) line arranged in double spirals. The thickness of the line is 35 nm and the center conductor and gap widths are 1 μm.
A section of a W-band traveling-wave kinetic inductance parametric (TKIP) amplifier. It consists of a 0.15 m length of NbTiN coplanar waveguide (CPW) line arranged in double spirals. The thickness of the line is 35 nm and the center conductor and gap widths are 1 μm.
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