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arXiv:1510.04965 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Surface acoustic wave resonators in the quantum regime

Riccardo Manenti, Michael Peterer, Ani Nersisyan, E. B. Magnusson, A. Patterson, Peter Leek

Published Jan 15, 2016• 129 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present systematic measurements of the quality factors of surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators on ST-X quartz in the gigahertz range at a temperature of $10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}$. We demonstrate an internal quality factor ${Q}_{\mathrm{i}}$ approaching $0.5$ million at $0.5\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\text{GHz}$ and show that ${Q}_{\mathrm{i}}\ensuremath{\ge}4.0\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ is achievable up to $4.4\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\text{GHz}$. We show evidence for a polynomial dependence of propagation loss on frequency, as well as a weak drive power dependence of ${Q}_{\mathrm{i}}$ that saturates at low power, the latter being consistent with coupling to a bath of two-level systems. Our results indicate that SAW resonators are promising devices for integration with superconducting quantum circuits.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.93.041411

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cond-mat.str-elCross-listedarXiv:2605.04402•May 7, 2026
We present systematic measurements of the quality factors of surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators on ST-X quartz in the gigahertz range at a temperature of 10mK10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mK}10mK. We demonstrate an internal quality factor Qi{Q}_{\mathrm{i}}Qi​ approaching 0.50.50.5 million at 0.5GHz0.5\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\text{GHz}0.5GHz and show that Qi\ensuremath≥4.0\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104{Q}_{\mathrm{i}}\ensuremath{\ge}4.0\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}Qi​\ensuremath≥4.0\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104 is achievable up to 4.4GHz4.4\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\text{GHz}4.4GHz. We show evidence for a polynomial dependence of propagation loss on frequency, as well as a weak drive power dependence of Qi{Q}_{\mathrm{i}}Qi​ that saturates at low power, the latter being consistent with coupling to a bath of two-level systems. Our results indicate that SAW resonators are promising devices for integration with superconducting quantum circuits.
Quantum excitations of macroscopic surface acoustic waves (SAWs) have been tailored to control, communicate, and transduce stationary and flying quantum states. However, the limited lifetime of these hybrid quantum systems remains critical obstacles to extend their applications in quantum information processing. Here, we present potentials of thin film aluminum nitride to on-chip integrated phonons with superconducting qubits over previous bulk piezoelectric substrates. We have reported high-quality thin film GHz-SAW resonators with the highest internal quality factor Qi of 4.92×104 in the quantum regime. The internal losses of SAW resonators are systematically investigated by tuning the parameters of sample layout, power, and temperature. Our results manifest that SAWs on piezoelectric films are readily integrated with standard fabrication of Josephson junction quantum circuits and offer excellent acoustic platforms for high-coherence quantum acoustodynamics architectures.
In an open system, the dynamical evolution of a qubit state is non-deterministic due to stochastic noise, leading to qubit state decoherence. In the case of the dispersive circuit-QED qubit readout circuit, even when the readout resonator is far off-resonance, the qubit is still damped to some degree, causing decoherence. By using a Purcell filter, qubit loss may be reduced by several orders of magnitude.In this work, we propose to use acoustic wave filters, well-established in the Telecommunications industry, as a Purcell filter. Using acoustic wave filters, like bulk acoustic wave (BAW) or surface acoustic wave (SAW), versus the current state-of-the-art Purcell filters would provide several advantages: higher isolation of the qubit to the readout frequencies as well as being quite miniaturized compared to usual filter alternatives.In this work, we characterize a 1.5GHz LiNbO SAW resonator. The characteization is done maintaining qubit environmental conditions of single photon-level powers and milikelvin temperatures. We characterize its frequency and internal quality factor dependence on temperature and drive power.
Abstract The experimental investigation of quantum devices incorporating mechanical resonators has opened up new frontiers in the study of quantum mechanics at a macroscopic level. It has recently been shown that surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can be piezoelectrically coupled to superconducting qubits, and confined in high-quality Fabry–Perot cavities in the quantum regime. Here we present measurements of a device in which a superconducting qubit is coupled to a SAW cavity, realising a surface acoustic version of cavity quantum electrodynamics. We use measurements of the AC Stark shift between the two systems to determine the coupling strength, which is in agreement with a theoretical model. This quantum acoustodynamics architecture may be used to develop new quantum acoustic devices in which quantum information is stored in trapped on-chip acoustic wavepackets, and manipulated in ways that are impossible with purely electromagnetic signals, due to the 10 5 times slower mechanical waves.
Thin-film surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices exhibit high quality factors and are promising candidates for quantum transducers, with significant potential for on-chip integration with high-coherence superconducting quantum circuits and optical resonators. However, the experimental demonstration of strong coupling between thin-film SAWs and superconducting qubits in the quantum regime remains a considerable challenge. In this study, we demonstrate strong coupling between a ScAlN thin-film SAW resonator and a high-coherence qubit on the same substrate, where the enhanced qubit coherence was achieved through selective ScAlN etching. Distinct multimode anticrossings are observed in both the qubit and SAW resonator frequency spectra, with extracted coupling strengths closely matching theoretical predictions. Additionally, we investigate qubit decay and the dissipation properties of the SAW resonator in the SAW-qubit hybrid system. Our results confirm the feasibility of integrating thin-film SAW devices with high-coherence superconducting circuits and offer valuable insights for optimizing the performance of such hybrid systems.
Abstract We numerically and experimentally investigate the phononic loss for superconducting resonators fabricated on a piezoelectric substrate. With the help of finite element method simulations, we calculate the energy loss due to electromechanical conversion into bulk and surface acoustic waves. This sets an upper limit for the resonator internal quality factor Q i. To validate the simulation, we fabricate quarter wavelength coplanar waveguide resonators on GaAs and measure Q i as function of frequency, power and temperature. We observe a linear increase of Q i with frequency, as predicted by the simulations for a constant electromechanical coupling. Additionally, Q i shows a weak power dependence and a negligible temperature dependence around 10 mK, excluding two level systems and non-equilibrium quasiparticles as the main source of losses at that temperature.
Imaging GHz surface acoustic wave modes in electrostricted LaAlO3_33​/SrTiO3_33​ heterostructures
The LaAlO3_33​/SrTiO3_33​ (LAO/STO) interface hosts a gate-tunable superconducting two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) which can be programmed to create quantum devices such as ballistic electron waveguides and quantum dots. To fully exploit this platform for quantum transport, a key requirement is the ability to shuttle single electrons, electron pairs, and other exotic states between spatially separated devices with precision. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs), which travel along the surface of a solid, offer a powerful route to achieve this through their moving electrical potential that captures and transfers electrons. %acoustoelectric coupling. In particular, SAWs in the GHz regime enable fast, controlled transport of individual quantum particles. Although this approach is well-explored in GaAs-based 2DEG, SAW generation in STO remains largely unexplored due to the lack of intrinsic piezoelectricity at room temperature. Here, we investigate room-temperature SAWs in LAO/STO and observe SAW modes up to 2.2 GHz with very low propagation loss of the order 10−310^{-3}10−3 dB per wavelength. To directly visualize these modes, we employ Atomic Acoustic Force Microscopy (AAFM), achieving sub-micron resolution imaging of the SAW wave forms, providing insight into the electrostriction-induced SAW generation mechanism. Our measurements indicate a shear horizontal-type mode, which provides the ability to couple to in-plane degrees of freedom for future acoustoelectric and quantum device applications. This work studies the fundamentals of SAW excitation and propagation on STO, a widely used and commercially available substrate, enabling straightforward coupling of SAWs to a broad range of materials that can be grown or transferred onto STO.