Multiplying and detecting propagating microwave photons using inelastic Cooper-pair tunneling

The interaction between propagating microwave fields and Cooper-pair tunneling across a DC voltage-biased Josephson junction can be highly nonlinear. We show theoretically that this nonlinearity can be used to convert an incoming single microwave photon into an outgoing \(n\)-photon Fock state in a different mode. In this process, the electrostatic energy released in a Cooper-pair tunneling event is transferred to the outgoing Fock state, providing energy gain. The created multi-photon Fock state is frequency entangled and highly bunched. The conversion can be made reflectionless (impedance-matched) so that all incoming photons are converted to \(n\)-photon states. With realistic parameters multiplication ratios \(n > 2\) can be reached. By two consecutive multiplications, the outgoing Fock-state number can get sufficiently large to accurately discriminate it from vacuum with linear post-amplification and power measurement. Therefore, this amplification scheme can be used as single-photon detector without dead time.