Optomechanical microwave amplification without mechanical amplification

High-gain and low-noise signal amplication is a valuable tool in various cryogenic microwave experiments. A microwave optomechanical device, in which a vibrating capacitor modulates the frequency of a microwave cavity, is one technique that is able to amplify microwave signals with high gain and large dynamical range. Such optomechanical ampliers typically rely on strong backaction of microwave photons on the mechanical mode achieved in the sideband-resolved limit of optomechanics. Here, we observe microwave amplication in an optomechanical cavity in the extremely unresolved sideband limit. A large gain is observed for any detuning of the single pump tone within the cavity linewidth, a clear indication that the amplication is not induced by dynamical backaction. By being able to amplify for any detuning of the pump signal, the amplication center frequency can be tuned over the entire range of the broad cavity linewidth. Additionally, by providing microwave amplication without mechanical amplication, we predict that using this scheme it is possible to achieve near-quantum-limited microwave amplication despite a large thermal occupation of the mechanical mode.