Progress in Cooling Nanoelectronic Devices to Ultra-Low Temperatures

On-chip cryogenic low-pass filters based on finite ground-plane coplanar waveguides for quantum measurements

Quantum technology exploits fragile quantum electronic phenomena whose energy scales demand ultra-low electron temperature operation. The lack of electron-phonon coupling at cryogenic temperatures makes cooling the electrons down to a few tens of millikelvin a non-trivial task, requiring extensive efforts on thermalization and filtering high-frequency noise. Existing techniques employ bulky and heavy cryogenic metal-powder filters, which prove ineffective at sub-GHz frequency regimes and unsuitable for high-density quantum circuits such as spin qubits. In this work, we realize ultra-compact and lightweight on-chip cryogenic filters based on the attenuation characteristics of finite ground-plane coplanar waveguides. These filters are made of aluminum on sapphire substrates using standard microfabrication techniques. The attenuation characteristics are measured down to a temperature of 500 mK in a dilution refrigerator in a wide frequency range of a few hundred kHz to 8.5 GHz. We find their performance is superior by many orders compared to the existing filtering schemes, especially in the sub-GHz regime, negating the use of any lumped-element low-pass filters. The compact and scalable nature makes these filters a suitable choice for high-density quantum circuits such as quantum processors based on quantum dot spin qubits.

An approach to breaking the 100-milli-Kelvin barrier in electron temperature with a dilution-refrigerator ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope

This study presents a newly constructed dilution-refrigerator ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with a 9/2/2 T superconducting vector magnet capable of achieving electron temperatures as low as 76 mK. Our design emphasizes robust thermal contacts, particularly with the sample holder through a thin insulating layer. Additionally, we focus on effective shielding and grounding against radio-frequency electromagnetic interference by integrating the critical electronics as a physically and electrically integral component of the STM setup. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy results obtained from a superconducting aluminum substrate and a gold tip indicate superior energy resolution, with a higher aspect ratio of the superconducting coherence peak in the dI/dV spectra compared to other dilution-refrigerator UHV STMs. Given that only a handful of UHV STMs with dilution refrigerators have reached electron temperatures below 100 mK, these results demonstrate the effectiveness of our design and methodology in achieving low electron temperatures.

Gd Metal-Organic Framework Thin Film for On-Chip Local Magnetic Refrigeration

Dense metal-organic frameworks with high spin paramagnetic nodes are competitive materials for cryogenic magnetic refrigeration, particularly in applications for which local cooling is advantageous. We focus on obtaining thin films of gadolinium formate, which has a large volumetric magnetocaloric effect. Continuous and homogeneous deposits of gadolinium formate are successfully formed on silicon by means of aerosol jet printing, with control over the film thickness from 0.35 μm up to 2.5 μm. The excellent cooling power of the deposits is evidenced via direct measurements of the cooling of a 200 μm silicon wafer down to sub-K temperatures by a single demagnetization from 1 T and 2 K, thereby demonstrating the potential of this approach for on-chip local magnetic refrigeration.

Fast Thermodynamic Study on a Silicon Nanotransistor at Cryogenic Temperatures

Cryogenic temperatures are crucial for the operation of semiconductor quantum electronic devices, yet the heating effects induced by microwave or laser signals used for quantum state manipulation can lead to significant temperature variations at the nanoscale. Therefore, probing the temperature of individual devices in working conditions and understanding the thermodynamics are paramount for designing and operating large-scale quantum computing systems. In this study, we demonstrate high-sensitivity fast thermometry in a silicon nanotransistor at cryogenic temperatures using RF reflectometry. Through this method, we explore the thermodynamic processes of the nanotransistor during and after a laser pulse and determine the dominant heat dissipation channels in the few-kelvin temperature range. These insights are important to understand thermal budgets in quantum circuits, with our techniques being compatible with microwave and laser radiation, offering a versatile approach for studying other quantum electronic devices in working conditions.

A hermetic on-cryostat helium source for low temperature experiments

We describe a helium source cell for use in cryogenic experiments that is hermetically sealed in situ on the cold plate of a cryostat. The source cell is filled with helium gas at room temperature and, subsequently, sealed using a cold weld crimping tool before the cryostat is closed and cooled down. At low temperatures, the helium condenses and collects in a connected experimental volume, as monitored via the frequency response of a planar superconducting resonator device sensitive to small amounts of liquid helium. This on-cryostat helium source negates the use of a filling tube between the cryogenic volumes and room temperature, thereby preventing unwanted effects such as temperature instabilities that arise from the thermomechanical motion of helium within the system. This helium source can be used in experiments investigating the properties of quantum fluids or to better thermalize quantum devices.

Thermal Transport in Nanoelectronic Devices Cooled by On-Chip Magnetic Refrigeration

On-chip demagnetization refrigeration has recently emerged as a powerful tool for reaching microkelvin electron temperatures in nanoscale structures. The relative importance of cooling on-chip and off-chip components and the thermal subsystem dynamics are yet to be analyzed. We study a Coulomb blockade thermometer with on-chip copper refrigerant both experimentally and numerically, showing that dynamics in this device are captured by a first-principles model. Our work shows how to simulate thermal dynamics in devices down to microkelvin temperatures, and outlines a recipe for a low-investment platform for quantum technologies and fundamental nanoscience in this novel temperature range.

Quantum bath suppression in a superconducting circuit by immersion cooling

Quantum circuits interact with the environment via several temperature-dependent degrees of freedom. Multiple experiments to-date have shown that most properties of superconducting devices appear to plateau out at T ≈ 50 mK - far above the refrigerator base temperature. This is for example reflected in the thermal state population of qubits, in excess numbers of quasiparticles, and polarisation of surface spins - factors contributing to reduced coherence. We demonstrate how to remove this thermal constraint by operating a circuit immersed in liquid ³He. This allows to efficiently cool the decohering environment of a superconducting resonator, and we see a continuous change in measured physical quantities down to previously unexplored sub-mK temperatures. The ³He acts as a heat sink which increases the energy relaxation rate of the quantum bath coupled to the circuit a thousand times, yet the suppressed bath does not introduce additional circuit losses or noise. Such quantum bath suppression can reduce decoherence in quantum circuits and opens a route for both thermal and coherence management in quantum processors.

Cooling low-dimensional electron systems into the microkelvin regime

Two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with high mobility, engineered in semiconductor heterostructures host a variety of ordered phases arising from strong correlations, which emerge at sufficiently low temperatures. The 2DEG can be further controlled by surface gates to create quasi-one dimensional systems, with potential spintronic applications. Here we address the long-standing challenge of cooling such electrons to below 1 mK, potentially important for identification of topological phases and spin correlated states. The 2DEG device was immersed in liquid 3He, cooled by the nuclear adiabatic demagnetization of copper. The temperature of the 2D electrons was inferred from the electronic noise in a gold wire, connected to the 2DEG by a metallic ohmic contact. With effective screening and filtering, we demonstrate a temperature of 0.9 ± 0.1 mK, with scope for significant further improvement. This platform is a key technological step, paving the way to observing new quantum phenomena, and developing new generations of nanoelectronic devices exploiting correlated electron states.

Low-Temperature Magnetocaloric Properties of V12 Polyoxovanadate Molecular Magnet: A Theoretical Study

The paper presents a computational study of the magnetocaloric properties of the V12 polyoxovanadate molecular magnet. The description is restricted to low-temperature range (below approximately 100 K), where the magnetic properties of the system in question can be sufficiently modelled by considering a tetramer that consists of four vanadium ions with spins S=1/2. The discussion is focused on the magnetocaloric effect in the cryogenic range. The exact and numerical diagonalization of the corresponding Hamiltonian is used in order to construct the thermodynamic description within a version of the canonical ensemble. The thermodynamic quantities of interest, such as magnetic entropy, specific heat, entropy change under isothermal magnetization/demagnetization, temperature change under adiabatic magnetization/demagnetization, refrigerant capacity, and magnetic Grüneisen ratio, are calculated and discussed extensively. The importance of two quantum level crossings for the described properties is emphasized. The significant ranges of direct and inverse magnetocaloric effect are predicted. In particular, the maximized inverse magnetocaloric response is found for cryogenic temperatures.