- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Applied

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

rf quantum capacitance parametric amplifier

A. El Kass1,2,*, B. Harlech-Jones1,3, C. T. Jin2, J. D. Watson4, G. C. Gardner4, S. Fallahi4, M. J. Manfra4,5, T. A. Ohki1,3, and D. J. Reilly1,3,†

  • 1Emergence Quantum Pty Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
  • 2School of Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
  • 3School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
  • 4Microsoft Quantum Lab West Lafayette, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
  • 5Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

  • *Contact author: Abdallah.Elkass@sydney.edu.au
  • †Contact author: David.Reilly@sydney.edu.au
PDF

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 044053 – Published 19 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3146-fgdw

Abstract

We report an rf parametric amplifier that exploits the gate-tunable quantum capacitance of a semiconductor two-dimensional electron gas at cryogenic temperatures. The prototype amplifier exhibits a gain approximately 30 dB up to an input power of −66  dBm and a noise temperature TN∼2  K at approximately 370 MHz while dissipating approximately a microwatt of power. Operable at tesla-scale magnetic fields and temperatures ranging from millikelvin to a few kelvin, the quantum capacitance parametric amplifier may find utility in the readout circuit of spin qubits. Here, a quantum dot system is used to verify amplifier performance, improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the readout by approximately 9 dB.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (70)

  1. F. Vigneau, F. Fedele, A. Chatterjee, D. Reilly, F. Kuemmeth, M. F. Gonzalez-Zalba, E. Laird, and N. Ares, Probing quantum devices with radio-frequency reflectometry, Appl. Phys. Rev. 10, 021305 (2023).
  2. E. W. Bryerton, M. Morgan, and M. W. Pospieszalski, Ultra low noise cryogenic amplifiers for radio astronomy, in 2013 IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (2013), pp. 358–360.
  3. M. W. Pospieszalski, Extremely low-noise cryogenic amplifiers for radio astronomy: Past, present and future, in 2018 22nd International Microwave and Radar Conference (MIKON) (2018), pp. 1–6.
  4. A. Janzen and S. Weinreb, Manufacturable cryogenic sige lna for radio astronomy and space communications, in 2016 United States National Committee of URSI National Radio Science Meeting (USNC-URSI NRSM) (2016), pp. 1–2.
  5. H. Peng, S. Asztalos, E. Daw, N. A. Golubev, C. Hagmann, D. Kinion, J. LaVeigne, D. M. Moltz, F. Nezrick, J. Powell, L. J. Rosenberg, P. Sikivie, W. Stoeffl, N. S. Sullivan, D. B. Tanner, M. S. Turner, and K. van Bibber, Cryogenic cavity detector for a large-scale cold dark-matter axion search, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A 444, 569 (2000).
  6. D. H. Johansen, J. D. Sanchez-Heredia, J. R. Petersen, T. K. Johansen, V. Zhurbenko, and J. H. Ardenkjær-Larsen, Cryogenic preamplifiers for magnetic resonance imaging, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Circuits Syst. 12, 202 (2018).
  7. T. Walter, P. Kurpiers, S. Gasparinetti, P. Magnard, A. Potočnik, Y. Salathé, M. Pechal, M. Mondal, M. Oppliger, C. Eichler, and A. Wallraff, Rapid high-fidelity single-shot dispersive readout of superconducting qubits, Phys. Rev. Appl. 7, 054020 (2017).
  8. J. M. Hornibrook, J. I. Colless, A. C. Mahoney, X. G. Croot, S. Blanvillain, H. Lu, A. C. Gossard, and D. J. Reilly, Frequency multiplexing for readout of spin qubits, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 103108 (2014).
  9. S. Schaal, A. Rossi, V. N. Ciriano-Tejel, T.-Y. Yang, S. Barraud, J. J. Morton, and M. F. Gonzalez-Zalba, A CMOS dynamic random access architecture for radio-frequency readout of quantum devices, Nat. Electron. 2, 236 (2019).
  10. C. M. Caves, Quantum limits on noise in linear amplifiers, Phys. Rev. D 26, 1817 (1982).
  11. M. H. Devoret and R. J. Schoelkopf, Amplifying quantum signals with the single-electron transistor, Nature (London) 406, 1039 (2000).
  12. R. Kubo, The fluctuation-dissipation theorem, Rep. Progress Phys. 29, 255 (1966).
  13. J. Clarke, M. Mück, M.-O. André, J. Gail, and C. Heiden, The microstrip DC squid amplifier (2011), pp. 473–504.
  14. D. Hover, Y.-F. Chen, G. J. Ribeill, S. Zhu, S. Sendelbach, and R. McDermott, Superconducting low-inductance undulatory galvanometer microwave amplifier, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 063503 (2012).
  15. I. Siddiqi, R. Vijay, F. Pierre, C. M. Wilson, M. Metcalfe, C. Rigetti, L. Frunzio, and M. H. Devoret, RF-driven Josephson bifurcation amplifier for quantum measurement, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 207002 (2004).
  16. M. A. Castellanos-Beltran and K. W. Lehnert, Widely tunable parametric amplifier based on a superconducting quantum interference device array resonator, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 083509 (2007).
  17. C. Macklin, K. O’Brien, D. Hover, M. E. Schwartz, V. Bolkhovsky, X. Zhang, W. D. Oliver, and I. Siddiqi, A near–quantum-limited josephson traveling-wave parametric amplifier, Science 350, 307 (2015).
  18. T. Yamamoto, K. Inomata, M. Watanabe, K. Matsuba, T. Miyazaki, W. D. Oliver, Y. Nakamura, and J. S. Tsai, Flux-driven Josephson parametric amplifier, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 042510 (2008).
  19. T. White, J. Mutus, I.-C. Hoi, R. Barends, B. Campbell, Y. Chen, Z. Chen, B. Chiaro, A. Dunsworth, E. Jeffrey et al., Traveling wave parametric amplifier with Josephson junctions using minimal resonator phase matching, Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 242601 (2015).
  20. M. Malnou, M. R. Vissers, J. D. Wheeler, J. Aumentado, J. Hubmayr, J. N. Ullom, and J. Gao, Three-wave mixing kinetic inductance traveling-wave amplifier with near-quantum-limited noise performance, PRX Quantum 2, 010302 (2021).
  21. B. H. Eom, P. K. Day, H. G. LeDuc, and J. Zmuidzinas, A wideband, low-noise superconducting amplifier with high dynamic range, Nat. Phys. 8, 623 (2012).
  22. M. R. Vissers, R. P. Erickson, H.-S. Ku, L. Vale, X. Wu, G. C. Hilton, and D. P. Pappas, Low-noise kinetic inductance traveling-wave amplifier using three-wave mixing, Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 012601 (2016).
  23. D. Phan, P. Falthansl-Scheinecker, U. Mishra, W. M. Strickland, D. Langone, J. Shabani, and A. P. Higginbotham, Gate-tunable superconductor-semiconductor parametric amplifier, Phys. Rev. Appl. 19, 064032 (2023).
  24. S. Frasca, C. Roy, G. Beaulieu, and P. Scarlino, Three-wave-mixing quantum-limited kinetic inductance parametric amplifier operating at 6 T near 1 k, Phys. Rev. Appl. 21, 024011 (2024).
  25. A. Vaartjes, A. Kringhøj, W. Vine, T. Day, A. Morello, and J. J. Pla, Strong microwave squeezing above 1 tesla and 1 kelvin, Nat. Commun. 15, 4229 (2024).
  26. L. J. Splitthoff, J. J. Wesdorp, M. Pita-Vidal, A. Bargerbos, Y. Liu, and C. K. Andersen, Gate-tunable kinetic inductance parametric amplifier, Phys. Rev. Appl. 21, 014052 (2024).
  27. M. Xu, R. Cheng, Y. Wu, G. Liu, and H. X. Tang, Magnetic field-resilient quantum-limited parametric amplifier, PRX Quantum 4, 010322 (2023).
  28. A. El Kass, K. A. F. Simoes, C. Chua, D. J. Reilly, K. Zuo, and T. A. Ohki, Toward the scalable fabrication of thin-film superconducting parametric amplifiers, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 35, 1 (2025).
  29. M. W. Pospieszalski, S. Weinreb, R. D. Norrod, and R. Harris, FETs and hEMTs at cryogenic temperatures-their properties and use in low-noise amplifiers, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 36, 552 (1988).
  30. J. Cressler and G. Niu, Silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (2002).
  31. L. Cochrane, T. Lundberg, D. J. Ibberson, L. A. Ibberson, L. Hutin, B. Bertrand, N. Stelmashenko, J. W. A. Robinson, M. Vinet, A. A. Seshia, and M. F. Gonzalez-Zalba, Parametric amplifiers based on quantum dots, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 197701 (2022).
  32. M. J. Manfra, Molecular beam epitaxy of ultra-high-quality algaas/gaas heterostructures: Enabling physics in low-dimensional electronic systems, Annu. Rev. Condens. Matter Phys. 5, 347 (2014).
  33. J. Aumentado, Superconducting parametric amplifiers: The state of the art in Josephson parametric amplifiers, IEEE Microw. Mag. 21, 45 (2020).
  34. A. J. Ardizzi, A. Y. Choi, B. Gabritchidze, J. Kooi, K. A. Cleary, A. C. Readhead, and A. J. Minnich, Self-heating of cryogenic high electron-mobility transistor amplifiers and the limits of microwave noise performance, J. Appl. Phys. 132, 084501 (2022).
  35. G. Herrmann, M. Uenohara, and A. Uhlir, Noise figure measurements on 2 types of variable reactance amplifiers using semiconductor diodes, Proc. IRE 46, 1301 (1958).
  36. J. De Jager, Parametric amplifiers for radio astronomy, Solid-State Electron. 4, 266 (1962).
  37. J. V. Jelley, The potentialities and present status of masers and parametric amplifiers in radio astronomy, Proc. IEEE 51, 30 (1963).
  38. R. Adler and W. S. Van Slyck, The electron beam parametric amplifier as a radar system component, IRE Trans. Mil. Electron. 66 (1961).
  39. M. Göppl, A. Fragner, M. Baur, R. Bianchetti, S. Filipp, J. M. Fink, P. J. Leek, G. Puebla, L. Steffen, and A. Wallraff, Coplanar waveguide resonators for circuit quantum electrodynamics, J. Appl. Phys. 104, 113904 (2008).
  40. A. El Kass. Milli-kelvin electronics at the quantum-classical interface, Ph.D. thesis, The University of Sydney, 2021.
  41. F. D. O. Schackert, A practical quantum-limited parametric amplifier based on the Josephson ring modulator, Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, 2013.
  42. C. Beenakker and H. van Houten, Quantum transport in semiconductor nanostructures, in Semiconductor Heterostructures and Nanostructures, Solid State Physics, edited by H. Ehrenreich and D. Turnbull (Academic Press, New York, 1991), Vol. 44, p. 228.
  43. S. Simbierowicz, V. Vesterinen, J. Milem, A. Lintunen, M. Oksanen, L. Roschier, L. Grönberg, J. Hassel, D. Gunnarsson, and R. E. Lake, Characterizing cryogenic amplifiers with a matched temperature-variable noise source, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 92, 034708 (2021).
  44. D. J. Reilly, C. M. Marcus, M. P. Hanson, and A. C. Gossard, Fast single-charge sensing with a rf quantum point contact, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 162101 (2007).
  45. K. M. Sliwa, M. Hatridge, A. Narla, S. Shankar, L. Frunzio, R. J. Schoelkopf, and M. H. Devoret, Reconfigurable josephson circulator/directional amplifier, Phys. Rev. X 5, 041020 (2015).
  46. A. E. Kass, B. Harlech-Jones, K. Zuo, and D. Reilly, “A tunable kinetic inductance parametric amplifier” (to be published).
  47. Z. Wan, A. Kazakov, M. J. Manfra, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. West, and L. P. Rokhinson, Induced superconductivity in high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in gallium arsenide heterostructures, Nat. Commun. 6, 7426 (2015).
  48. H. Takayanagi and T. Kawakami, Superconducting proximity effect in the native inversion layer on InAs, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 2449 (1985).
  49. A. Mahoney, J. Colless, S. Pauka, J. Hornibrook, J. Watson, G. Gardner, M. Manfra, A. Doherty, and D. Reilly, On-chip microwave quantum hall circulator, Phys. Rev. X 7, 011007 (2017).
  50. A. West, B. Hensen, A. Jouan, T. Tanttu, C.-H. Yang, A. Rossi, M. F. Gonzalez-Zalba, F. Hudson, A. Morello, D. J. Reilly et al., Gate-based single-shot readout of spins in silicon, Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 437 (2019).
  51. A. J. Weinstein, M. D. Reed, A. M. Jones, R. W. Andrews, D. Barnes, J. Z. Blumoff, L. E. Euliss, K. Eng, B. H. Fong, S. D. Ha et al., Universal logic with encoded spin qubits in silicon, Nature (London) 615, 817 (2023).
  52. N. W. Hendrickx, W. I. Lawrie, M. Russ, F. Van Riggelen, S. L. De Snoo, R. N. Schouten, A. Sammak, G. Scappucci, and M. Veldhorst, A four-qubit germanium quantum processor, Nature (London) 591, 580 (2021).
  53. B. Halperin and J. Jain, Fractional quantum Hall effects: New developments (2020).
  54. Y. Hu, H. O. H. Churchill, D. J. Reilly, J. Xiang, C. M. Lieber, and C. M. Marcus, A Ge/Si heterostructure nanowire-based double quantum dot with integrated charge sensor, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2, 622 (2007).
  55. M. C. Jarratt, S. J. Waddy, A. Jouan, A. C. Mahoney, G. C. Gardner, S. Fallahi, M. J. Manfra, and D. J. Reilly, Detection of the quantum capacitance of a point contact via dispersive gate sensing, Phys. Rev. Appl. 14, 064021 (2020).
  56. J. I. Colless, A. C. Mahoney, J. M. Hornibrook, A. C. Doherty, H. Lu, A. C. Gossard, and D. J. Reilly, Dispersive readout of a few-electron double quantum dot with fast rf gate sensors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 046805 (2013).
  57. J. M. Hornibrook, J. I. Colless, A. C. Mahoney, X. G. Croot, S. Blanvillain, H. Lu, A. C. Gossard, and D. J. Reilly, Frequency multiplexing for readout of spin qubits, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 103108 (2014).
  58. W. Mumford, Some notes on the history of parametric transducers, Proceed. IRE 48, 848 (1960).
  59. H. Heffner and G. Wade, Minimum noise figure of a parametric amplifier, J. Appl. Phys. 29, 1262 (1958).
  60. H. Heffner, Solid-state microwave amplifiers, IRE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 7, 83 (1959).
  61. K. Garbrecht, Noise limitation in helium-cooled parametric amplifiers, Radio Electron. Eng. 31, 217 (1966).
  62. C. Blake, L. W. Bowles, E. P. McCurley, and J. A. Nuttall, Helium-cooled l-band parametric amplifier, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2, 17 (1963).
  63. S. Weinreb, Low-noise cooled GASFET amplifiers, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 28, 1041 (1980).
  64. M. W. Pospieszalski, Extremely low-noise amplification with cryogenic FETs and HFETs: 1970–2004, IEEE Microw. Mag. 6, 62 (2005).
  65. The datasheet of the LNF product LNF-LNC0.2_3B. https://www.lownoisefactory.com/.
  66. F. Arute, K. Arya, R. Babbush, D. Bacon, J. C. Bardin, R. Barends, R. Biswas, S. Boixo, F. G. Brandao, D. A. Buell et al., Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor, Nature (London) 574, 505 (2019).
  67. J. Y. Mutus, T. C. White, R. Barends, Y. Chen, Z. Chen, B. Chiaro, A. Dunsworth, E. Jeffrey, J. Kelly, A. Megrant et al., Strong environmental coupling in a Josephson parametric amplifier, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 263513 (2014).
  68. H. Heffner and G. Wade, Gain, band width, and noise characteristics of the variable-parameter amplifier, J. Appl. Phys. 29, 1321 (1958).
  69. D. H. Slichter. Quantum jumps and measurement backaction in a superconducting qubit, Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2011.
  70. R. Vijayaraghavan. Josephson bifurcation amplifier: amplifying quantum signals using a dynamical bifurcation, Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, 2008.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 044053– Published 19 October, 2026
  • Received 27 January 2026
  • Revised 7 July 2026
  • Accepted 28 August 2026
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation