Artificial Transmission Line Synthesis Tailored for Traveling-Wave Parametric Processes

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

Traveling-wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) are essential for reading signals from superconducting quantum circuits, but their design has traditionally relied on trial-and-error, iterating on the circuit’s component values until a satisfactory response is found. Yet, the design of linear circuits can be carried out systematically through filter synthesis, which provides a direct route from a desired frequency response to a realizable network. In this context, an artificial transmission line (ATL) composed of lumped-element inductors and capacitors can be viewed as an infinite cascade of filter stages, arranged in a Cauer ladder topology. This perspective naturally invites the use of filter synthesis to engineer ATLs and, in turn, the TWPAs that rely on them.

In this talk, I will present a synthesis framework [1] that streamlines TWPA design and reveals new device concepts, including novel phase-matching strategies and a composite right/left-handed TWPA, in which ultra-compact Chebyshev tapers suppress band-edge ripples. These concepts are validated using an open-source harmonic balance simulator extended to support arbitrary nonlinear inductances and are currently being explored experimentally.



[1] M. Malnou, arXiv:2510.24753 (2025)

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Publication: M. Malnou, arXiv:2510.24753 (2025)

Presenters

  • Maxime Malnou

    • University of Colorado Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology

Authors

  • Maxime Malnou

    • University of Colorado Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Martin Ritter

    • NIST
    • University of Colorado Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • University of Colorado, Boulder
    • University of Colorado Boulder, NIST Institute of Standards and Technology

  • Connor Denney

    • Colorado School of Mines
    • NIST

  • Kristen L Genter

    • University of Colorado Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • University of Colorado, Boulder
    • University of Colorado Boulder, National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder

  • Katarina Cicak

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

  • John D Teufel

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Colorado Boulder
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder

  • Florent Lecocq

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Colorado Boulder
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder, University of Colorado Boulder

  • Jose A Aumentado

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Colorado Boulder
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology Boulder