Materials loss measurements using superconducting microwave resonators

Surpassing millisecond coherence in on chip superconducting quantum memories by optimizing materials and circuit design

The performance of superconducting quantum circuits for quantum computing has advanced tremendously in recent decades; however, a comprehensive understanding of relaxation mechanisms does not yet exist. In this work, we utilize a multimode approach to characterizing energy losses in superconducting quantum circuits, with the goals of predicting device performance and improving coherence through materials, process, and circuit design optimization. Using this approach, we measure significant reductions in surface and bulk dielectric losses by employing a tantalum-based materials platform and annealed sapphire substrates. With this knowledge we predict the relaxation times of aluminum- and tantalum-based transmon qubits, and find that they are consistent with experimental results. We additionally optimize device geometry to maximize coherence within a coaxial tunnel architecture, and realize on-chip quantum memories with single-photon Ramsey times of 2.0 - 2.7 ms, limited by their energy relaxation times of 1.0 - 1.4 ms. These results demonstrate an advancement towards a more modular and compact coaxial circuit architecture for bosonic qubits with reproducibly high coherence.

Latched detection of zeptojoule spin echoes with a kinetic inductance parametric oscillator

When strongly pumped at twice their resonant frequency, nonlinear resonators develop a high-amplitude intracavity field, a phenomenon known as parametric self-oscillations. The boundary over which this instability occurs can be extremely sharp and thereby presents an opportunity for realizing a detector. Here, we operate such a device based on a superconducting microwave resonator whose nonlinearity is engineered from kinetic inductance. The device indicates the absorption of low-power microwave wavepackets by transitioning to a self-oscillating state. Using calibrated pulses, we measure the detection efficiency to zeptojoule energy wavepackets. We then apply it to measurements of electron spin resonance, using an ensemble of 209Bi donors in silicon that are inductively coupled to the resonator. We achieve a latched readout of the spin signal with an amplitude that is five hundred times greater than the underlying spin echoes.

Performance of high impedance resonators in dirty dielectric environments

High-impedance resonators are a promising contender for realizing long-distance entangling gates between spin qubits. Often, the fabrication of spin qubits relies on the use of gate dielectrics which are detrimental to the quality of the resonator. Here, we investigate loss mechanisms of high-impedance NbTiN resonators in the vicinity of thermally grown SiO2 and Al2O3 fabricated by atomic layer deposition. We benchmark the resonator performance in elevated magnetic fields and at elevated temperatures and find that the internal quality factors are limited by the coupling between the resonator and two-level systems of the employed oxides. Nonetheless, the internal quality factors of high-impedance resonators exceed 103 in all investigated oxide configurations which implies that the dielectric configuration would not limit the performance of resonators integrated in a spin-qubit device. Because these oxides are commonly used for spin qubit device fabrication, our results allow for straightforward integration of high-impedance resonators into spin-based quantum processors. Hence, these experiments pave the way for large-scale, spin-based quantum computers.

High-Q trenched aluminum coplanar resonators with an ultrasonic edge microcutting for superconducting quantum devices

Dielectric losses are one of the key factors limiting the coherence of superconducting qubits. The impact of materials and fabrication steps on dielectric losses can be evaluated using coplanar waveguide (CPW) microwave resonators. Here, we report on superconducting CPW microwave resonators with internal quality factors systematically exceeding 5 × 106 at high powers and 2 × 106 (with the best value of 4.4 × 106) at low power. Such performance is demonstrated for 100-nm-thick aluminum resonators with 7-10.5 um center trace on high-resistivity silicon substrates commonly used in Josephson-junction based quantum circuit. We investigate internal quality factors of the resonators with both dry and wet aluminum etching, as well as deep and isotropic reactive ion etching of silicon substrate. Josephson junction compatible CPW resonators fabrication process with both airbridges and silicon substrate etching is proposed. Finally, we demonstrate the effect of airbridges' positions and extra process steps on the overall dielectric losses. The best quality factors are obtained for the wet etched aluminum resonators and isotropically removed substrate with the proposed ultrasonic metal edge microcutting.

High-quality superconducting α-Ta film sputtered on the heated silicon substrate

Intrigued by the discovery of the long lifetime in the α-Ta/Al2O3-based Transmon qubit, researchers recently found α-Ta film is a promising platform for fabricating multi-qubits with long coherence time. To meet the requirements for integrating superconducting quantum circuits, the ideal method is to grow α-Ta film on a silicon substrate compatible with industrial manufacturing. Here we report the α-Ta film sputter-grown on Si (100) with a low-loss superconducting TiNx buffer layer. The α-Ta film with a large growth temperature window has a good crystalline character. The superconducting critical transition temperature (Tc) and residual resistivity ratio (RRR) in the α-Ta film grown at 500 °C are higher than that in the α-Ta film grown at room temperature (RT). These results provide crucial experimental clues toward understanding the connection between the superconductivity and the materials' properties in the α-Ta film and open a new route for producing a high-quality α-Ta film on silicon substrate for future industrial superconducting quantum computers.

Surface Passivation of Niobium Superconducting Quantum Circuits Using Self-Assembled Monolayers

Superconducting coplanar waveguide (CPW) microwave resonators in quantum circuits are the best components for reading and changing the state of artificial atoms because of their excellent coupling to quantum systems. This coupling forms the basis of the developing circuit quantum electrodynamic architecture. In quantum processors, oscillators are used to store and transmit quantum information using microwave-frequency wave packets. However, the presence of amorphous thin-film defects is deleterious and can result in an irrevocable loss of coherent information with uncontrolled degrees of freedom. Although there has been extensive research into techniques to reduce the coherent loss of such devices, the precise structure of amorphous dielectric layers on surfaces and interfaces and their associated loss mechanism are being actively studied. In particular, planar superconducting resonators are very sensitive to defects on their surfaces, such as two-level systems in oxidized metals and nonequilibrium quasiparticles, making these devices suitable probes for the different loss mechanisms. In this work, we present the design, fabrication, and characterization of Nb CPW resonators with different surface treatments with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), which mitigate the growth of oxides in superconducting circuits. We demonstrate SAM-passivated resonators having internal quality factors of greater than 10⁶ at a single-photon excitation power (measured at 100 mK), which were probed using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy to demonstrate the efficiency of our surface treatment. Finally, we compared the improvements in the experimental quality factors to those obtained by numerical simulation.

Developing a Chemical and Structural Understanding of the Surface Oxide in a Niobium Superconducting Qubit

Superconducting thin films of niobium have been extensively employed in transmon qubit architectures. Although these architectures have demonstrated improvements in recent years, further improvements in performance through materials engineering will aid in large-scale deployment. Here, we use information retrieved from secondary ion mass spectrometry and electron microscopy to conduct a detailed assessment of the surface oxide that forms in ambient conditions for transmon test qubit devices patterned from a niobium film. We observe that this oxide exhibits a varying stoichiometry with NbO and NbO₂ found closer to the niobium film/oxide interface and Nb₂O₅ found closer to the surface. In terms of structural analysis, we find that the Nb₂O₅ region is semicrystalline in nature and exhibits randomly oriented grains on the order of 1-3 nm corresponding to monoclinic N-Nb₂O₅ that are dispersed throughout an amorphous matrix. Using fluctuation electron microscopy, we are able to map the relative crystallinity in the Nb₂O₅ region with nanometer spatial resolution. Through this correlative method, we observe that the highly disordered regions are more likely to contain oxygen vacancies and exhibit weaker bonds between the niobium and oxygen atoms. Based on these findings, we expect that oxygen vacancies likely serve as a decoherence mechanism in quantum systems.

Resolution and characterization of contributions of select protein and coupled solvent configurational fluctuations to radical rearrangement catalysis in coenzyme B12-dependent ethanolamine ammonia-lyase

Coenzyme B₁₂ (adenosylcobalamin) -dependent ethanolamine ammonia-lyase (EAL) is the signature enzyme in ethanolamine utilization metabolism associated with microbiome homeostasis and disease conditions in the human gut. The enzyme conducts a complex choreography of bond-making/bond-breaking steps that rearrange substrate to products through a radical mechanism, with themes common to other coenzyme B₁₂-dependent and radical enzymes. The methods presented are targeted to test the hypothesis that particular, select protein and coupled solvent configurational fluctuations contribute to enzyme function. The general approach is to correlate enzyme function with an introduced perturbation that alters the properties (for example, degree of concertedness, or collectiveness) of protein and coupled solvent dynamics. Methods for sample preparation and low-temperature kinetic measurements by using temperature-step reaction initiation and time-resolved, full-spectrum electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy are detailed. A framework for interpretation of results obtained in ensemble systems under conditions of statistical equilibrium within the reacting, globally unstable state is presented. The temperature-dependence of the first-order rate constants for decay of the cryotrapped paramagnetic substrate radical state in EAL, through the chemical step of radical rearrangement, displays a piecewise-continuous Arrhenius dependence from 203 to 295K, punctuated by a kinetic bifurcation over 219-220K. The results reveal the obligatory contribution of a class of select collective protein and coupled solvent fluctuations to the interconversion of two resolved, sequential configurational substates, on the decay time scale. The select class of collective fluctuations also contributes to the chemical step. The methods and analysis are generally applicable to other coenzyme B₁₂-dependent and related radical enzymes.

Performance of a Kinetic Inductance Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifier at 4 Kelvin: Toward an Alternative to Semiconductor Amplifiers

Most microwave readout architectures in quantum computing or sensing rely on a semiconductor amplifier at 4 K, typically a high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT). Despite its remarkable noise performance, a conventional HEMT dissipates several milliwatts of power, posing a practical challenge to scale up the number of qubits or sensors addressed in these architectures. As an alternative, we present an amplification chain consisting of a kinetic inductance traveling-wave parametric amplifier (KITWPA) placed at 4 K, followed by a HEMT placed at 70 K, and demonstrate a chain-added noise T Σ = 6.3 ± 0.5 K between 3.5 and 5.5 GHz. While, in principle, any parametric amplifier can be quantum limited even at 4 K, in practice we find the performance of the KITWPA to be limited by the temperature of its inputs and by an excess of noise T ex = 1.9 K . The dissipation of the rf pump of the KITWPA constitutes the main power load at 4 K and is about 1% that of a HEMT. These combined noise and power dissipation values pave the way for the use of the KITWPA as a replacement for semiconductor amplifiers.

Making high-quality quantum microwave devices with van der Waals superconductors

Ultra low-loss microwave materials are crucial for enhancing quantum coherence and scalability of superconducting qubits. Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure is an attractive platform for quantum devices due to the single-crystal structure of the constituent two-dimensional (2D) layered materials and the lack of dangling bonds at their atomically sharp interfaces. However, new fabrication and characterization techniques are required to determine whether these structures can achieve low loss in the microwave regime. Here we report the fabrication of superconducting microwave resonators using NbSe₂that achieve a quality factorQ> 10⁵. This value sets an upper bound that corresponds to a resistance of⩽192μΩwhen considering the additional loss introduced by integrating NbSe₂into a standard transmon circuit. This work demonstrates the compatibility of 2D layered materials with high-quality microwave quantum devices.

Stability of superconducting resonators: Motional narrowing and the role of Landau-Zener driving of two-level defects

Frequency instability of superconducting resonators and qubits leads to dephasing and time-varying energy loss and hinders quantum processor tune-up. Its main source is dielectric noise originating in surface oxides. Thorough noise studies are needed to develop a comprehensive understanding and mitigation strategy of these fluctuations. We use a frequency-locked loop to track the resonant frequency jitter of three different resonator types—one niobium nitride superinductor, one aluminum coplanar waveguide, and one aluminum cavity—and we observe notably similar random telegraph signal fluctuations. At low microwave drive power, the resonators exhibit multiple, unstable frequency positions, which, for increasing power, coalesce into one frequency due to motional narrowing caused by sympathetic driving of two-level system defects by the resonator. In all three devices, we identify a dominant fluctuator whose switching amplitude (separation between states) saturates with increasing drive power, but whose characteristic switching rate follows the power law dependence of quasi-classical Landau-Zener transitions.

Coupling of ethanolamine ammonia-lyase protein and solvent dynamics characterized by the temperature-dependence of EPR spin probe mobility and dielectric permittivity

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is used to address the remarkable persistence of the native Arrhenius dependence of the 2-aminopropanol substrate radical rearrangement reaction in B₁₂-dependent ethanolamine ammonia-lyase (EAL) from Salmonella typhimurium from physiological to cryogenic (220 K) temperatures. Two-component TEMPOL spin probe mobility in the presence of 10 mM (0.08% v/v) 2-aminopropanol over 200-265 K demonstrates characteristic concentric aqueous-cosolvent mesodomain and protein-associated domain (PAD, hydration layer) solvent phases around EAL in the frozen solution. The mesodomain formed by the relatively small amount of 2-aminopropanol is highly confined, as shown by an elevated temperature for the order-disorder transition (ODT) in the PAD (230-235 K) and large activation energy for TEMPOL rotation. Addition of 2% v/v dimethylsulfoxide expands the mesodomain, partially relieves PAD confinement, and leads to an ODT at 205-210 K. The ODT is also manifested as a deviation of the temperature-dependence of the EPR amplitude of cob(II)alamin and the substrate radical, bound in the enzyme active site, from Curie law behavior. This is attributed to an increase in sample dielectric permittivity above the ODT at the microwave frequency of 9.5 GHz. The relatively high frequency dielectric response indicates an origin in coupled protein surface group-water fluctuations of the Johari-Goldstein β type that span spatial scales of ∼0.1-10 Å on temporal scales of 10^-10-10^-7 s. The orthogonal EPR spin probe rotational mobility and solvent dielectric measurements characterize features of EAL protein-solvent dynamical coupling and reveal that excess substrate acts as a fluidizing cryosolvent to enable native enzyme reactivity at cryogenic temperatures.

Digital Control of a Superconducting Qubit Using a Josephson Pulse Generator at 3 K

Scaling of quantum computers to fault-tolerant levels relies critically on the integration of energy-efficient, stable, and reproducible qubit control and readout electronics. In comparison to traditional semiconductor-control electronics (TSCE) located at room temperature, the signals generated by rf sources based on Josephson-junctions (JJs) benefit from small device sizes, low power dissipation, intrinsic calibration, superior reproducibility, and insensitivity to ambient fluctuations. Previous experiments to colocate qubits and JJ-based control electronics have resulted in quasiparticle poisoning of the qubit, degrading the coherence and lifetime of the qubit. In this paper, we digitally control a 0.01-K transmon qubit with pulses from a Josephson pulse generator (JPG) located at the 3-K stage of a dilution refrigerator. We directly compare the qubit lifetime T ₁, the coherence time T 2 * , and the thermal occupation P _th when the qubit is controlled by the JPG circuit versus the TSCE setup. We find agreement to within the daily fluctuations of ±0.5 μs and ±2 μs for T ₁ and T 2 * , respectively, and agreement to within the 1% error for P _th. Additionally, we perform randomized benchmarking to measure an average JPG gate error of 2.1 × 10^-2. In combination with a small device size (< 25 mm²) and low on-chip power dissipation (≪100 μW), these results are an important step toward demonstrating the viability of using JJ-based control electronics located at temperature stages higher than the mixing-chamber stage in highly scaled superconducting quantum information systems.