We have developed a Josephson parametric amplifier, comprising a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator terminated by a dc SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device). An external field (the pump, $sim 20$ GHz) modulates the flux thread
ing the dc SQUID, and, thereby, the resonant frequency of the cavity field (the signal, $sim 10$ GHz), which leads to parametric signal amplification. We operated the amplifier at different band centers, and observed amplification (17 dB at maximum) and deamplification depending on the relative phase between the pump and the signal. The noise temperature is estimated to be less than 0.87 K.
We have designed and experimentally implemented a circuit of inductively-coupled superconducting charge qubits, where a Josephson junction is used as an inductance, and the coupling between the qubits is controlled by an applied magnetic flux. Spectr
oscopic measurements on the circuit are in good agreement with theoretical calculations. We observed anticrossings which originate from the coupling between the qubit and the plasma mode of the Josephson junction. Moreover, the size of the anticrossing depends on the external magnetic flux, which demonstrates the controllability of the coupling.
