Design of deeply cooled ultra-low dissipation amplifier and measuring cell for quantum measurements with a microwave single-photon counter

Abstract

The requirements and details of designing a measuring cell and low-back-action deeply-cooled amplifier for quantum measurements at 10 mK are discussed. This equipment is a part of a microwave single-photon counter based on a superconducting flux qubit. The high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) in the amplifier operate in unsaturated microcurrent regime and dissipate only 1 μW of dc power per transistor. Simulated amplifier gain is 15 dB at 450 MHz with a high-impedance (≈ 5 kΩ) signal source and standard 50-Ω output.