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arXiv:0905.1707 · Applied Physics Letters

Josephson squelch filter for quantum nanocircuits

P. Forn-Díaz, Raymond N. Schouten, W. A. den Braver, Johan E. Mooij, C. J. P. M. Harmans

Published Jul 27, 2009• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We fabricated and tested a squelch circuit consisting of a copper powder filter with an embedded Josephson junction connected to ground. For small signals (squelch ON), the small junction inductance attenuates strongly from dc to at least 1 GHz, while for higher frequencies dissipation in the copper powder increases the attenuation exponentially with frequency. For large signals (squelch OFF), the circuit behaves as a regular metal powder filter. The measured ON/OFF ratio is larger than 50 dB up to 50 MHz. This squelch can be applied in low temperature measurement and control circuitry for quantum nanostructures, such as superconducting qubits and quantum dots.

DOI
10.1063/1.3186047

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We fabricated and tested a squelch circuit consisting of a copper powder filter with an embedded Josephson junction connected to ground. For small signals (squelch ON), the small junction inductance attenuates strongly from dc to at least 1 GHz, while for higher frequencies dissipation in the copper powder increases the attenuation exponentially with frequency. For large signals (squelch OFF), the circuit behaves as a regular metal powder filter. The measured ON/OFF ratio is larger than 50 dB up to 50 MHz. This squelch can be applied in low temperature measurement and control circuitry for quantum nanostructures, such as superconducting qubits and quantum dots.
Cascaded low-pass filters are designed and fabricated for the measurements of dc characteristics of superconducting qubits. The filters are cascaded by LCR filter and copper powder filter. At 77 K the cutoff frequency is 120 kHz and the roll-off is -40 dB/decade. We achieved an attenuation -60 dB when the frequency is above 10 MHz. The frequency response of the cascaded filters is better than single LCR filter or copper powder filter and high frequency noise can be suppressed effectively at low temperature.
As the need for scaling up quantum computers increases there is also an increased need for more compact adjacent circuitry surrounding the quantum processor. In the amplification of a qubit's readout-signal there is a need for quantum-limited amplifiers achieving a high signal-to-noise ratio. Today, it is common to use traveling-wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs), which are currently powered by an external microwave pump. To further reduce the circuitry an option is to use an on-chip pump only requiring DC-wires to operate. This is possible due to the AC Josephson effect which can convert a DC voltage to an AC current. By connecting multiple Josephson junctions in series it is possible to increase the output power by utilizing their coherent oscillations. The purpose of this project was to simulate and characterize Josephson voltage controlled oscillators in terms of power and frequency-output, with the goal of providing the pump to a TWPA. This also included bandpass filters utilizing the Josephson inductance, to remove higher order harmonics of the oscillations. These bandpass filters were also characterized both in simulations and in measurements. To evaluate these components, a cryogenic testbed was implemented, and benchmarked, with a capacity of 12 parallel experiments. Simulations showed that it was possible to use Josephson junctions to produce stable oscillations which were filtered to give a pure 5 GHz signal with a -86.78 dBm power. When the corresponding device was measured it was not possible to observe the harmonic spectrum, likely due to noise in the DC-biasing system. The measured bandpass filters exhibited either high insertion loss or limited bandwidth as compared to design-specifications. A power-threshold was identified at approximately -90 dBm at which the bandpass filters showed severe non-linear effects, both in simulations and in measurements.
High-fidelity qubit readout in circuit QED requires suppressing relaxation due to the Purcell effect, typically achieved through the use of Purcell filters. A key limitation of existing Purcell filter implementations is their large footprint. In this work, we propose a compact notch Purcell filter based on a Josephson junction (JJ) chain embedded in series with the readout resonator. We analytically derive the conditions for operation in the dispersive regime using a lumped-element model, and validate the concept through an example design that is analyzed through both lumped-element and full electromagnetic simulations. The results indicate that the proposed architecture achieves a Purcell decay time exceeding 1 ms, with a dispersive shift and resonator linewidth of approximately 10 MHz, enabling fast, high signal-tonoise ratio readout. As typical of notch filters, also this solution exhibits an inherent parameter sensitivity. SQUIDs can be used for post-fabrication frequency tuning, at the expense of an increase of the number of required control lines.
We designed and fabricated miniature low-pass metal powder filters suitable for noise-sensitive measurements at cryogenic temperatures. In comparison with previous powder filters, our filters have a much better frequency response and significantly smaller dimensions (0.7 cm(3) including the plugs) and can also be used as hermetic feedthroughs at low temperatures. Their transmission characteristics are smooth, contain no ripples, and have a steep decay above the cutoff frequency. At 4.2 K the cutoff frequency of a single filter is f(c)=1 MHz and the roll-off is -50 dB per decade. All of the fabricated filters have identical frequency responses at 4.2 K and their characteristics are reliably reproducible.
We have designed and characterized superconducting integrated circuits for the ac Josephson voltage standard that demonstrate significantly improved performance. The typical circuit consists of an array of superconductor-normal metal-superconductor Josephson junctions, which are placed in a transmission line and biased with a broad-band (dc-to-15 GHz) pulse-drive waveform. Additional low-speed (dc and audio frequency) bias and output leads contain on-chip inductors that act as low-pass filters. The operating margins of the array were improved by adding resistive shunts across these inductors to damp their intrinsic resonances. These resonances had previously degraded the integrity of the broad-band signal driving the array. We present simulations and measurements of these improved circuits that demonstrate no resonances in the range of 0.1-20 GHz. Moreover, the operating margins of the ac Josephson voltage standard were improved.
A new element for superconducting electronic circuitry—a variable attenuator—has been proposed, designed, and successfully tested. The principle of operation is based on the change in the microwave impedance of a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Josephson tunnel junction when dc biased at different points in the current-voltage characteristic. Both numerical calculations based on the Tien–Gordon theory and 70-GHz microwave experiments have confirmed the wide dynamic range (more than 15-dB attenuation for one stage) and the low insertion loss in the ‘‘open’’ state. The performance of a fully integrated submillimeter receiver circuit which comprises a flux–flow oscillator (FFO) as local oscillator, a superconducting variable attenuator, and a microwave SIS detector with tuned-out capacitance is also reported.