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Main Authors: Celotto, Andrea, Alocco, Alessandro, Galvano, Bernardo, Fasolo, Luca, Palumbo, Emanuele, Callegaro, Luca, Oberto, Luca, Livreri, Patrizia, Enrico, Emanuele
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.28808
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author Celotto, Andrea
Alocco, Alessandro
Galvano, Bernardo
Fasolo, Luca
Palumbo, Emanuele
Callegaro, Luca
Oberto, Luca
Livreri, Patrizia
Enrico, Emanuele
author_facet Celotto, Andrea
Alocco, Alessandro
Galvano, Bernardo
Fasolo, Luca
Palumbo, Emanuele
Callegaro, Luca
Oberto, Luca
Livreri, Patrizia
Enrico, Emanuele
contents Microwave devices capable of near-quantum-limited signal processing are essential components in the toolbox of solid-state quantum technologies. The manipulation and readout of single-photon microwave signals through amplifiers, mixers, isolators, etc. must fulfill strict requirements in terms of signal integrity to ensure reliable operation. These active microwave quantum devices operate in complex cryo-electronic setups. This poses challenges to their characterization, since all relevant figures of merit must be expressed at the reference planes of their ports. Even though cryogenic S-parameter calibration is non-trivial, metrological approaches are converging toward rigorous methods. Furthermore, preserving signal integrity must be quantified via absolute noise levels at the ports of the Device Under Test (DUT), requiring an absolute power reference. In this work, we present an in situ noise metrology protocol based on substituting a controllable noise source for the DUT. We motivate this choice by showing that placing the noise source at the DUT input impacts the separability of the calibration from the DUT characteristics. Our proposed architecture combines Planck spectroscopy using a Variable Temperature Stage with Short-Open-Load-Reciprocal scattering-parameter calibration, so that noise and scattering quantities are referred to the same cryogenic reference planes. In this configuration, the readout-chain calibration is separated from the internal dynamics of the DUT. As a demanding use case, we apply the protocol to a Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier and extract its gain and input-referred added noise under pump conditions activating multimode nonlinear behavior. This illustrates how our device-agnostic protocol supports portable noise characterization of nonlinear cryogenic microwave devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_28808
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Device-Agnostic Microwave Noise Metrology for Nonlinear Cryogenic Quantum Devices
Celotto, Andrea
Alocco, Alessandro
Galvano, Bernardo
Fasolo, Luca
Palumbo, Emanuele
Callegaro, Luca
Oberto, Luca
Livreri, Patrizia
Enrico, Emanuele
Quantum Physics
Microwave devices capable of near-quantum-limited signal processing are essential components in the toolbox of solid-state quantum technologies. The manipulation and readout of single-photon microwave signals through amplifiers, mixers, isolators, etc. must fulfill strict requirements in terms of signal integrity to ensure reliable operation. These active microwave quantum devices operate in complex cryo-electronic setups. This poses challenges to their characterization, since all relevant figures of merit must be expressed at the reference planes of their ports. Even though cryogenic S-parameter calibration is non-trivial, metrological approaches are converging toward rigorous methods. Furthermore, preserving signal integrity must be quantified via absolute noise levels at the ports of the Device Under Test (DUT), requiring an absolute power reference. In this work, we present an in situ noise metrology protocol based on substituting a controllable noise source for the DUT. We motivate this choice by showing that placing the noise source at the DUT input impacts the separability of the calibration from the DUT characteristics. Our proposed architecture combines Planck spectroscopy using a Variable Temperature Stage with Short-Open-Load-Reciprocal scattering-parameter calibration, so that noise and scattering quantities are referred to the same cryogenic reference planes. In this configuration, the readout-chain calibration is separated from the internal dynamics of the DUT. As a demanding use case, we apply the protocol to a Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier and extract its gain and input-referred added noise under pump conditions activating multimode nonlinear behavior. This illustrates how our device-agnostic protocol supports portable noise characterization of nonlinear cryogenic microwave devices.
title Device-Agnostic Microwave Noise Metrology for Nonlinear Cryogenic Quantum Devices
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.28808