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Physics Procedia

Parasitic Losses in Nb Superconducting Resonators

J. M. Hornibrook, E.E. Mitchell, Chris Lewis, D. J. Reilly

Published Jan 1, 2012• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Microwave losses in niobium (Nb) superconducting resonators are investigated at milli-Kelvin temperatures and with low drive power. In addition to the well-known suppression in Q-factor that arises from coupling between the resonator and two-level defects in the dielectric substrate, we report strong dependence of the measured Q-factor and resonance line-shape on the electromagnetic environment. Methods to suppress parasitic coupling between the resonator and its environment are discussed.

DOI
10.1016/j.phpro.2012.06.069

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Microwave losses in niobium (Nb) superconducting resonators are investigated at milli-Kelvin temperatures and with low drive power. In addition to the well-known suppression in Q-factor that arises from coupling between the resonator and two-level defects in the dielectric substrate, we report strong dependence of the measured Q-factor and resonance line-shape on the electromagnetic environment. Methods to suppress parasitic coupling between the resonator and its environment are discussed.
Parasitic electromagnetic fields are shown to strongly suppress the quality (Q)-factor of superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators via non-local dissipation in the macroscopic environment. Numerical simulation and low temperature measurements demonstrate how this parasitic loss can be reduced, establishing a Lorentzian lineshape in the resonator frequency response and yielding a loaded Q-factor of 2.4 x 10^5 for niobium devices on sapphire substrates. In addition, we report the dependence of the Q and resonance frequency shift Delta f_0 with input power and temperature in the limit where loss from two-level systems in the dielectric dominate.
The electromagnetic environment can have a significant effect on the resonant line-shape and loadedQ-factor of superconducting coplanar waveguides in the low temperature (<; 100 mK) and low microwave power regime. Here, electromagnetic simulations are used to visualize the electric field strength throughout the resonator environment, highlighting situations in which parasitic modes lead to increased dissipation. Methods used to suppress parasitic coupling include increasing the density of wire bonds and vias, reducing the width of the transmission line (whilst maintaining the characteristic impedance at 50 Ω) and establishing strong grounding to the sample enclosure. The effect of reducing the parasitic coupling on the microwave transmission spectrum is reported.
The performance of superconducting microwave circuits is strongly influenced by the material properties of the superconducting film and substrate. While progress has been made in understanding the importance of surface preparation and the effect of surface oxides, the complex effect of superconductor film structure on microwave losses is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigate the microwave properties of niobium resonators with different crystalline properties and related surface topographies. We analyze a series of magnetron sputtered films in which the Nb crystal orientation and surface topography are changed by varying the substrate temperatures between room temperature and 975 K. The lowest-loss resonators that we measure have quality factors of over one million at single-photon powers, among the best ever recorded using the Nb on sapphire platform. We observe the highest quality factors in films grown at an intermediate temperature regime of the growth series (550 K) where the films display both preferential ordering of the crystal domains and low surface roughness. Furthermore, we analyze the temperature-dependent behavior of our resonators to learn about how the quasiparticle density in the Nb film is affected by the niobium crystal structure and the presence of grain boundaries. Our results stress the connection between the crystal structure of superconducting films and the loss mechanisms suffered by the resonators and demonstrate that even a moderate change in temperature during thin film deposition can significantly affect the resulting quality factors.
Abstract The performance of superconducting microwave circuits is strongly influenced by the material properties of the superconducting film and substrate. While progress has been made in understanding the importance of surface preparation and the effect of surface oxides, the complex effect of superconductor film structure on microwave losses is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigate the microwave properties of niobium resonators with different crystalline properties and related surface topographies. We analyze a series of magnetron sputtered films in which the Nb crystal orientation and surface topography are changed by varying the substrate temperatures between room temperature and 975 K. The lowest-loss resonators that we measure have quality factors of over 10 6 at single-photon powers, among the best ever recorded using the Nb on sapphire platform. We observe the highest quality factors in films grown at an intermediate temperature regime of the growth series (550 K) where the films display both preferential ordering of the crystal domains and low surface roughness. Furthermore, we analyze the temperature-dependent behavior of our resonators to learn about how the quasiparticle density in the Nb film is affected by the niobium crystal structure and the presence of grain boundaries. Our results stress the connection between the crystal structure of superconducting films and the loss mechanisms suffered by the resonators and indicate that even a moderate change in temperature during thin film deposition can significantly affect the resulting quality factors.
The performance of superconducting microwave circuits is strongly influenced by the material properties of the superconducting film and substrate. While progress has been made in understanding the importance of surface preparation and the effect of surface oxides, the complex effect of superconductor film structure on microwave losses is not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigate the microwave properties of niobium resonators with different crystalline properties and related surface topographies. We analyze a series of magnetron sputtered films in which the Nb crystal orientation and surface topography are changed by varying the substrate temperatures between room temperature and 975K. The lowest-loss resonators that we measure have quality factors of over 106 at single-photon powers, among the best ever recorded using the Nb on sapphire platform. We observe the highest quality factors in films grown at an intermediate temperature regime of the growth series (550K) where the films display both preferential ordering of the crystal domains and low surface roughness. Furthermore, we analyze the temperature-dependent behavior of our resonators to learn about how the quasiparticle density in the Nb film is affected by the niobium crystal structure and the presence of grain boundaries. Our results stress the connection between the crystal structure of superconducting films and the loss mechanisms suffered by the resonators and indicate that even a moderate change in temperature during thin film deposition can significantly affect the resulting quality factors.
We present a systematic analysis of the internal losses of superconducting coplanar waveguide microwave resonators based on niobium thin films on silicon substrates. In particular, we investigate losses introduced by Nb/Al interfaces in the center conductor, which is important for experiments where Al based Josephson junctions are integrated into Nb based circuits. We find that these interfaces can be a strong source for two-level state (TLS) losses, when the interfaces are not positioned at current nodes of the resonator. In addition to TLS losses, for resonators including Al, quasiparticle losses become relevant above 200 mK. Finally, we investigate how losses generated by eddy currents in conductive material on the backside of the substrate can be minimized by using thick enough substrates or metals with high conductivity on the substrate backside.