Three-wave mixing using a flux-biased loop of granular aluminium

Three-wave parametric mixing in disordered superconductors such as NbN, TiN, and NbTiN has shown exceptional performance in both amplification and vacuum squeezing. These devices leverage relatively weak nonlinearity combined with a DC bias to achieve pure three-wave mixing and high saturation powers, though at the cost of requiring strong pump powers. Here, we present a parametric amplifier based on a single loop of granular aluminum, where magnetic flux threading the loop induces three-wave mixing nonlinearity -akin to an RF-SQUID or SNAIL. This approach compacts the non-linearity into a smaller, dipole element, lifting the requirement of feeding in a DC bias. We explore the use of such a device for the readout of superconducting quantum devices.