Josephson junction microwave amplifier in self-organized noise   compression mode
  The fundamental noise limit of a phase-preserving amplifier at frequency $\omega /2\pi $ is the standard quantum limit $T_{q}=\hbar \omega /2k_{B}$. In the microwave range, the best candidates have been amplifiers based on superconducting quantum interference devices (reaching the noise temperature $T_{n} \sim 1.8 T_{q}$ at 700 MHz), and non-degenerate parametric amplifiers (reaching noise levels close to the quantum limit $T_{n}\approx T_{q}$ at 8 GHz). We introduce a new type of an amplifier based on the negative resistance of a selectively damped Josephson junction. Noise performance of our amplifier is limited by mixing of quantum noise from Josephson oscillation regime down to the signal frequency. Measurements yield nearly quantum-limited operation, $T_{n}=(3.2\pm 1.0) T_{q}$ at 2.8 GHz, owing to self-organization of the working point. Simulations describe the characteristics of our device well and indicate potential for wide bandwidth operation. 
Pasi L\"ahteenm\"aki, Visa Vesterinen, Juha Hassel, Heikki Sepp\"a,   Pertti Hakonen
cond-mat.mes-hall