Demonstration of an ac Josephson junction laser

Superconducting electronic devices have re-emerged as contenders for both classical and quantum computing due to their fast operation speeds, low dissipation and long coherence times. An ultimate demonstration of coherence is lasing. We use one of the fundamental aspects of superconductivity, the ac Josephson effect, to demonstrate a laser made from a Josephson junction strongly coupled to a multi-mode superconducting cavity. A dc voltage bias to the junction provides a source of microwave photons, while the circuit’s nonlinearity allows for efficient down-conversion of higher order Josephson frequencies down to the cavity’s fundamental mode. The simple fabrication and operation allows for easy integration with a range of quantum devices, allowing for efficient on-chip generation of coherent microwave photons at low temperatures.