We present the design and performance of high-Q superconducting niobium nitride microwave resonators intended for use in hybrid quantum systems, coupling spin degrees of freedom to the cavity mode, both magnetically and electrically. We demonstrate a solution that allows to introduce static electric fields in the resonator without compromising the microwave performance. Quality factors above 105 remain unchanged in strong applied static electric fields above 10 MV/m and magnetic fields up to ∼400 mT. By design, the configuration of the dc field matches that of the microwave field, especially advantageous for experiments on electrostatically controlled spin systems.
We present the design and performance of high-Q superconducting niobium nitride microwave resonators intended for use in hybrid quantum systems, coupling spin degrees of freedom to the cavity mode, both magnetically and electrically. We demonstrate a solution that allows to introduce static electric fields in the resonator without compromising the microwave performance. Quality factors above 105 remain unchanged in strong applied static electric fields above 10 MV/m and magnetic fields up to ∼400 mT. By design, the configuration of the dc field matches that of the microwave field, especially advantageous for experiments on electrostatically controlled spin systems.
In many hybrid quantum systems, a superconducting circuit is required, which combines DC-control with a coplanar waveguide (CPW) microwave resonator. The strategy thus far for applying a DC voltage or current bias to microwave resonators has been to apply the bias through a symmetry point in such a way that it appears as an open circuit for certain frequencies. Here, we introduce a microwave coupler for superconducting CPW cavities in the form of a large shunt capacitance to ground. Such a coupler acts as a broadband mirror for microwaves while providing galvanic connection to the center conductor of the resonator. We demonstrate this approach with a two-port λ/4-transmission resonator with linewidths in the MHz regime (Q∼103) that shows no spurious resonances and apply a voltage bias up to 80 V without affecting the quality factor of the resonator. This resonator coupling architecture, which is simple to engineer, fabricate, and analyse, could have many potential applications in experiments involving superconducting hybrid circuits.
Abstract Three-dimensional microwave waveguide cavities are essential tools for many cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments. However, the need to control quantum emitters with dc magnetic fields inside the cavity often limits such experiments to normal-conducting cavities with relatively low quality factors of about 10 4 . Similarly, controlling quantum emitters with dc electric fields in normal- and superconducting waveguide cavities has so far been difficult, because the insertion of dc electrodes has strongly limited the quality factor. Here, we present a method to apply dc electric fields within a superconducting waveguide cavity, which is based on the insertion of dc electrodes at the nodes of the microwave electric field. Moreover, we present a method to apply dc magnetic fields within the same cavity by trapping the magnetic flux in holes positioned in facing walls of the cavity. We demonstrate that the TE 301 mode of such a superconducting, rectangular cavity made from niobium maintains a high internal quality factor of Q int ≃ 1.7 × 10 6 at the few photon level and a base temperature of 3 K. A cloud of Rydberg atoms coupled to the microwave electric field of the cavity is used to probe the applied dc electric and magnetic fields via the quadratic Stark effect and the Zeeman effect, respectively.
Frequency-tunable microwave resonators are in great demand especially in hybrid systems where precise frequency alignment of resonances is required. Here, we present frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonators fabricated from thin niobium nitride and niobium titanium nitride films. The resonant frequency is tuned by applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the hole structures in the resonator's inductor wire, whose kinetic inductance is modified by wirelessly induced DC supercurrents. A continuous in situ frequency tuning of over 300 MHz is achieved for a 10 GHz resonator with a moderate magnetic field of 1.2 mT. The planar resonator design and the noncontact tuning scheme greatly ease the fabrication complexity and can be widely applied in many hybrid systems for coupling microwave modes with other forms of excitations such as optical photons, phonons, magnons, and spins.
The high critical magnetic field and relatively high critical temperature of niobium nitride (NbN) make it a promising material for applications in superconducting quantum technology. However, NbN-based superconducting circuits are sensitive to decoherence sources such as two-level system (TLS) defects. Here, we numerically and experimentally investigate NbN superconducting microwave coplanar waveguide resonator arrays with a 100 nm thickness, capacitively coupled to a common coplanar waveguide on a silicon chip. We observe that the resonators' internal quality factor (Qi) decreases fromQi∼1.07×106in a high power regime toQi∼1.36×105in the single photon regime. Data from this study is consistent with the TLS theory, which describes the TLS interactions in resonator substrates and interfaces. Moreover, we study the temperature (T) dependence ofQiand resonance frequencyfrof coplanar waveguide resonators to characterize the quasiparticle density. We observe that the increase in kinetic inductance at higher temperatures is the main reason for the frequency shift. Finally, we measurefrandQiin response to in-plane magnetic fields (B∣∣). We verify thatQistays well above104up toB∣∣= 240 mT in the photon number<nph>= 1.8 atT= 100 mK. Our results could enable the development of robust microwave superconducting circuits for circuit quantum electrodynamics at high magnetic fields required for hybrid superconducting-semiconducting quantum circuits.
Superconducting microwave resonators based on coplanar waveguides (CPWs), which allow for on-chip implementation, have a wide variety of uses, from the coupling of qubits to the detection of photons from interstellar clouds. With the integration of a bias circuitry, the already versatile resonator will become even more so. However, applying a DC voltage or current bias to the resonator without significantly degrading its quality factor Q is no trivial task. One of the first superconducting microwave resonators with the ability to allow for the application of a DC bias, made use of symmetry points. In order to not rely on those symmetry points, our group came up with a different design that used a shunted capacitor instead. However, this design needs a more extensive and in particular more complicated fabrication process. As the groups focus is now completely away from the original design, we go back in this thesis, to honestly evaluate such a resonator by applying a bias to its center. We present a design with the cavity length l to be a full wavelength (l = λ) terminated on both ends to ground, fed in by a capacitively coupled AC-feedline at λ/4 and a DC-bias line at its center (λ/2). After the first fabrication trial we were unable to successfully judge the performance of the microwave resonator as it suffered from bad internal loss, leading to a low internal Q ~ 300 at 4 K. The only thing that this showed us, is that its design is perhaps not as straightforward. On the other hand, interesting results specific to the design were obtained from QUCS simulations (using a combination of lumped and distributed elements). These simulations showed that the quality of the resonator is highly sensitive to the position of its galvanically connected bias line, with respect to the center of the cavity (voltage node). Where Qint drops down to 10 % of its maximum for < 0.1 mm (= l/320) away from the center. Furthermore, we saw that asymmetry in the ports causes the maximum Qint (voltage node) to be off-center by 9 μm, and that adding an extra feedline in symmetry to the existing one puts it back on-center. Demonstrating the voltage node susceptibility to asymmetries of the cavity mode. Despite the unpromising signs the results show, suggestions have been put forward about better isolation of the bias line that have the potential to still make the design attractive. While these isolations still baring the traits of a faster and less complex fabrication.
Hybrid quantum systems play an essential role in efforts towards the advancements of quantum information technology and quantum sensing by bridging distinct technological platforms. In particular, hybrid systems comprising superconducting microwave circuits are being pursued intensely in light of existing achievements in superconducting qubits and precise quantum control in microwave circuits. Their realization relies on the design of superconducting resonators capable of coupling to an oscillatory mode of a second quantum system, facilitating the probing and manipulation of one via the other. In order to accommodate the coupled system, its particular constraints and requirements must be respected, which may be quite extreme from the perspective of established superconducting circuit design and operation. Overcoming this challenge has proved to be a substantial obstacle for the attainment of strongly coupled hybrid systems, despite spectacular advances in superconducting microwave circuits individually. In this work, we examine two approaches tackling this issue for different hybrid quantum systems, focusing on the optimization and characterization of the superconducting circuits. The first device aims at a superconductor-atom hybrid system through the coupling to Rydberg-Rydberg transitions in ultra-cold Rb-87 atoms trapped near the superconducting chip. Using simulations in conjunction with theoretical considerations, we demonstrate a comprehensive geometry parameter optimization procedure for maximum coupling rate. Presenting an experimental implementation of the resulting circuit, we validate its suitability for use under the intended operation conditions, including the option of tuning the electronic transition frequencies using a dc voltage. Secondly, we investigate a device designed for applications in large magnetic in-plane fields used to mediate coupling to integrated micromechanical oscillators; more specifically it is a flux-tunable SQUID resonator comprising Josephson nano-constrictions as nonlinear inductive components. Performing a thorough characterization of its frequency and Kerr anharmonicity tuning behavior at fields up to several hundred mT, we discover a pronounced asymmetry in its flux response at large fields. We show this asymmetry to be caused by the nano-constrictions turning into Josephson diodes, develop an intuitive macroscopic model for its field-induced emergence and reconstruct the diode current-phase relation from the flux tuning data. Several figures of merit informing the suitability of the SQUID resonators for optomechanical systems as well as other applications are improved by the diode effect, highlighting the potential of Josephson diodes in superconducting microwave circuits. Our results provide a promising stepping stone for the advancement of hybrid systems involving superconducting microwave circuits, putting new and exciting operation and coupling regimes within reach.