Ultimate On-Chip Quantum Amplifier
O. V. Astafiev, A. A. Abdumalikov, Alexandre M. Zagoskin, Yu. A. Pashkin, Yasunobu Nakamura, J. S. Tsai · Physical Review Letters · 2010
We report amplification of electromagnetic waves by a single artificial atom in open 1D space. Our three-level artificial atom--a superconducting quantum circuit--coupled to a transmission line presents an analog of a natural atom in open space. The system is the most fundamental quantum amplifier whose gain is limited by a spontaneous emission mechanism. The noise performance is determined by the quantum noise revealed in the spectrum of spontaneous emission, also characterized in our experiments.