Broadband Microwave Isolation via Adiabatic Mode Conversion in Superconducting Coupled Transmission Lines

We propose a new scheme that combines parametric mode conversion and adiabatic techniques in a pair of coupled nonlinear Josephson junction transmission lines to realize broadband isolation without magnetic elements. The idea is to induce an effective unidirectional parametric coupling between two otherwise orthogonal modes of propagation and engineer the dispersion to have an adiabatic conversion between two modes. Our realistic analysis suggests more than 20 dB isolation over an octave of bandwidth (4-8 GHz) with less than 0.1 dB of insertion loss. Our scheme is compatible with the current superconducting qubit technology. We report on progress toward implementing this device.