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arXiv:1209.1039 · Review of Scientific Instruments

Insertable system for fast turnaround time microwave experiments in a dilution refrigerator

Florian R. Ong, Jean-Luc Orgiazzi, A. de Waard, G. Frossati, Adrian Lupaşcu

Published Sep 1, 2012• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Microwave experiments in dilution refrigerators are a central tool in the field of superconducting quantum circuits and other research areas. This type of experiments relied so far on attaching a device to the mixing chamber of a dilution refrigerator. The minimum turnaround time in this case is a few days as required by cooling down and warming up the entire refrigerator. We developed a new approach, in which a suitable sample holder is attached to a cold-insertable probe and brought in contact with transmission lines permanently mounted inside the cryostat. The total turnaround time is 8 h if the target temperature is 80 mK. The lowest attainable temperature is 30 mK. Our system can accommodate up to six transmission lines, with a measurement bandwidth tested from zero frequency to 12 GHz. This bandwidth is limited by low-pass components in the setup; we expect the intrinsic bandwidth to be at least 18 GHz. We present our setup, discuss the experimental procedure, and give examples of experiments enabled by this system. This new measurement method will have a major impact on systematic ultra-low temperature studies using microwave signals, including those requiring quantum coherence.

DOI
10.1063/1.4754634

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Microwave experiments in dilution refrigerators are a central tool in the field of superconducting quantum circuits and other research areas. This type of experiments relied so far on attaching a device to the mixing chamber of a dilution refrigerator. The minimum turnaround time in this case is a few days as required by cooling down and warming up the entire refrigerator. We developed a new approach, in which a suitable sample holder is attached to a cold-insertable probe and brought in contact with transmission lines permanently mounted inside the cryostat. The total turnaround time is 8 h if the target temperature is 80 mK. The lowest attainable temperature is 30 mK. Our system can accommodate up to six transmission lines, with a measurement bandwidth tested from zero frequency to 12 GHz. This bandwidth is limited by low-pass components in the setup; we expect the intrinsic bandwidth to be at least 18 GHz. We present our setup, discuss the experimental procedure, and give examples of experiments enabled by this system. This new measurement method will have a major impact on systematic ultra-low temperature studies using microwave signals, including those requiring quantum coherence.
Rapid thermal cycling is a central bottleneck in the development of superconducting quantum devices: conventional dilution refrigerators require cooldowns of a day or more and substantial cryogenic infrastructure, which throttles the fabricate-measure-redesign loop. We present an ultracompact dilution refrigerator (3 kg in mass and 100 mm in diameter) that completes a full cooldown-warm-up cycle to a base temperature of 70 mK in 1.2 hours when unloaded, and in 2.1 hours when fully equipped with the microwave wiring required for qubit measurements, while delivering 20 microW of cooling power at 100 mK. We validate the platform through a complete characterization of a two-fluxonium device: we extract the full circuit Hamiltonian by two-tone spectroscopy, measure energy-relaxation and coherence times, and benchmark single-qubit control. Although the relaxation time is limited by the base temperature of the system, we reach a single-qubit gate fidelity of up to 99%, at the coherence limit set by our operating temperature. These results demonstrate that compact, fast-cycling dilution refrigeration can support state-of-the-art quantum-device characterization without sacrificing measurement quality, offering a practical route to high-throughput quantum-hardware development.
A cryogen-free cryostat was set up in order to perform measurements at ultra low temperatures. The setup involved the removal of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) and replacing it with a dilution refrigerator system. The modified cryostat is able to provide continuous cooling power, enabling greater flexibility over the ADR in the type of low temperature experiments that can be performed. Condensation stages, main flow impedance and radiation baffles were designed, constructed and installed into the cryostat. Several general cryostat design considerations are also discussed. Condensation of the incoming 3He - 4He mixture utilizes only the cooling power of the two-stage pulse tube refrigerator. For a circulation rate of 120 μmols/sec, the base temperature of the cryostat is 70 mK with a cooling power of 33 μW of heat at 100 mK. \nWith this cryostat, a measurement system is developed for studying superconducting microwave resonators. Residual losses in these devices continue to impede their performance in applications such as ultra sensitive detectors and quantum computing. A microwave circuit consisting of coaxial cables, attenuators and amplifiers was installed on the cryostat to measure losses in these devices. Data analysis and fitting procedures were written in Python programming language to extract key resonator properties. Characterizing and understanding loss mechanisms for these devices will lead to improved materials and fabrication methods. This will ultimately result in losses that approach the fundamental limit set by the Mattis-Bardeen theory.
This thesis presents circuit quantum electrodynamic (cQED) experiments done with artificial atoms coupled to a high quality factor superconducting microwave resonator. This work discusses the theoretical framework, design, fabrication, implementation and characterization of a multi-qubit system using superconducting persistent current qubits, often referred as flux qubits. \n \nWe developed a new type of cryogenic aid for fast turnaround microwave experiments. The minimum turnaround time to perform microwave experiments in dilution refrigerators is typically a few days, as required by cooling down and warming up the entire refrigerator. The cryogenic microwave payload and wiring needed for each qubit and resonator add a significant heat load to \nthe system which typically only has a few µW s of cooling power at millikelvin temperatures. We present a new experimental approach we developed in which a suitable sample holder is attached to a cold-insertable probe and brought in contact with transmission lines permanently mounted inside the cryostat. The total turnaround time is reduced to 8 hours if the target temperature is 80 mK. This new measurement method increased our ability to successfully identify good devices with fast design-characterization iterations, while allowing months-long measurements at 30 mK. \n \nOur device architecture uses several qubits, each of which is controlled via on-chip fast flux bias lines. Readout of the qubit’s quantum state is performed by homodyne detection of the resonator field at large driving power. We observe long coherence times at the optimal bias point of the flux qubits and present decoherence measurements around this optimal point, where the \nflux qubits couple mostly to magnetic flux noise. Dynamical decoupling techniques employing fast microwave pulses are used to protect the qubit’s coherence and allow calculating the magnetic flux noise power spectral density of the qubit’s environment. Photon-mediated interaction between distant qubits in the resonator allows the implementation of a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate \nusing the selective darkening technique. \n \nThis multi-qubit superconducting design is an interesting platform to study the decoherence properties of flux qubits, the properties of strong interaction of electromagnetic radiation with macroscopic quantum systems. These results demonstrate the potential of cQED as a platform for fundamental investigations of decoherence and quantum dynamics of flux qubits.
We present a practical design and implementation of a broadband sample holder suitable for microwave experiments with superconducting integrated circuits at millikelvin temperatures. Proposed design can be easily integrated in standard dilution cryostats, has flat pass band response in a frequency range from 0 to 32 GHz, allowing the RF testing of the samples with substrate size up to 4 × 4 mm(2). The parasitic higher modes interference in the holder structure is analyzed and prevented via design considerations. The developed setup can be used for characterization of superconducting parametric amplifiers, bolometers, and qubits. We tested the designed sample holder by characterizing of a superconducting flux qubit at 20 mK temperature.
At the Walther-Meißner-Institut (WMI), a new cryogen-free 3He/4He dilution refrigerator (DR) has been completed; the cryostat will be employed to cool experiments on superconducting quantum circuits for quantum information technology and quantum simulations. All major components have been made at the WMI. The DR offers lots of space at the various stages of the apparatus for microwave components and cables. E. g., the usable space at the mixing chamber has a height of more than 60 cm and a diameter of 30 cm (mixing chamber mounting plate). To cool cables and cold amplifiers, the DR is equipped with a separate 4He-1K-loop which offers a cooling power of up to 100 mW near 1K. The refrigeration power of the still is 18 mW at 0.9 K; the diameter of its mounting plate is 35 cm. The cryostat rests in an aluminum trestle on air springs to attenuate building vibrations. It is precooled by a Cryomech PT410-RM pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) which is mechanically decoupled from the vacuum can of the cryostat by a bellows assembly. The two stages of the PTC are thermally connected to the DR via copper ropes. There are no nitrogen cooled traps with this DR to purify the gas streams of the 3He and 4He loops; instead, charcoal traps are mounted inside the DR at the first stage of the PTC. The dilution unit has three heat exchangers; its base temperature is 11 mK and its cooling power is 300 μW at 100 mK.
Quantum technologies promise a radically new way to solve classically intractable computing problems. Superconducting circuits as a platform are at the forefront of this field. The cryogenic operation temperatures of superconducting circuits however impose challenges for the further scaling to many connected quantum information processing units into a local area or global network. In this work, we present a hardware solution for connecting quantum devices operating at microwave frequencies into local area networks, which enable the exchange of quantum information between spatially separated parties. Specifically, we demonstrate a modular system spanning distances of 5, 10 and 30 meters operated at cryogenic temperatures and connecting two superconducting circuit systems, located in individual dilution refrigerators, through a quantum communication channel. We develop a thermal model to evaluate the heat transfer processes in the setup, optimize the design and select appropriate materials for its construction. The assembled 30-meter-long system achieves operating temperatures of below 50 mK after a cooldown time of about six and a half days. This link enables the execution of distributed quantum computing and communication algorithms. It also adds the resource of non-locality, certified by a loophole-free Bell test, to the field of quantum science and technology with superconducting circuits.