Related papers: Nitrogen Plasma Passivated Niobium Resonators for …
Superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators are essential components in quantum processors, where their internal quality factor (Qi) constrains qubit coherence and readout fidelity. In niobium devices, microwave losses at millikelvin…
Laser nitriding represents a versatile approach for tailoring the surface properties of metals. Up to now, its effect on the superconducting response of niobium nitrides remains largely unexplored. In this work, the nitriding process of…
The coherence of state-of-the-art superconducting qubit devices is predominantly limited by two-level-system defects, found primarily at amorphous interface layers. Reducing microwave loss from these interfaces by proper surface treatments…
Superconducting resonators and qubits are limited by dielectric losses from surface oxides. Surface oxides are mitigated through various strategies such as the addition of a metal capping layer, surface passivation, and acid processing. In…
We report a surface treatment that systematically improves the quality factor of niobium radio frequency cavities beyond the expected limit for niobium. A combination of annealing in a partial pressure of nitrogen or argon gas and…
We characterize low-loss electron-beam evaporated niobium thin films deposited under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Slow deposition yields films with a high superconducting transition temperature ($9.20 \pm 0.06 \rm ~K$) as well as a…
Materials imperfections in Nniobium based superconducting quantum circuits, in particular, two-level-system (TLS) defects, are a major source of decoherence, ultimately limiting the performance of quantum computation and sensing. Thus,…
Superconducting qubits have arisen as a leading technology platform for quantum computing which is on the verge of revolutionizing the world's calculation capacities. Nonetheless, the fabrication of computationally reliable qubit circuits…
We present a novel transmon qubit fabrication technique that yields systematic improvements in T$_1$ relaxation times. We fabricate devices using an encapsulation strategy that involves passivating the surface of niobium and thereby…
Trapped magnetic vortices in niobium introduce microwave losses that degrade the performance of superconducting resonators. While such losses have been extensively studied above 1~K, we report here their direct quantification in the…
Resonators and qubits with a niobium (Nb) base metal layer achieve some of the highest coherence times in superconducting quantum devices. The performance of such devices is often limited by loss associated with two-level systems, which are…
One main limiting factor towards achieving high coherence times in superconducting circuits is two level system (TLS) losses. Mitigating such losses requires controlling the formation of native oxides at the metal-air interface. Here, we…
We report the finding of new surface treatments that permit to manipulate the niobium resonator nitrogen content in the first few nanometers in a controlled way, and the resonator fundamental Mattis-Bardeen surface resistance and residual…
Precise control of tensile stress and intrinsic damping is crucial for the optimal design of nanomechanical systems for sensor applications and quantum optomechanics in particular. In this letter we study the in uence of oxygen plasma on…
Quantum sensing and computation can be realized with superconducting microwave circuits. Qubits are engineered quantum systems of capacitors and inductors with non-linear Josephson junctions. They operate in the single-excitation quantum…
Niobium superconducting radiofrequency cavities enable applications in modern accelerators and quantum computers. However, the surface resistance significantly deteriorates the cavities performance. Nitrogen doping surface treatment can…
Recently, Nb superconducting radio frequency cavities vacuum heat treated between 300-400 C for a few hours have exhibited very high quality factors (~5x10^10 at 2.0 K). New secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements of O, N and C show…
A major roadblock to scalable quantum computing is phase decoherence and energy relaxation caused by qubits interacting with defect-related two-level systems (TLS). Native oxides present on the surfaces of superconducting metals used in…
We report the RF performance of several single-cell superconducting radio-frequency cavities subjected to low temperature heat treatment in nitrogen environment. The cavities were treated at temperature 120 - 165 $^{\circ}$C for an extended…
Surface properties are critical to the capabilities of superconducting microwave devices. The native oxide of niobium-based devices is thought to consist of a thin normal conducting layer. To improve understanding on the importance of this…