Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

Niobium Tunable Microwave Filter

Rizwan Rafique, Thomas Ohki, Peter Linnér, Anna Herr

Published Apr 15, 2009• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A superconductor bandpass filter with tunable central frequency in the range of 2-3.5 GHz has been implemented using superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). The filter is designed using two pi-network resonators connected by a transmission line. Both resonators have a SQUID inductor with a tuning range of 65-200 pH, controlled by current magnetically coupled to the SQUIDs. Over a frequency tunability of 1.5 GHz, the filter has a mid-band insertion loss of 0.5-3.0 dB and corresponding maximum unloaded quality factor of 40. Due to the presence of active elements, tunability of the filter depends on the power of the microwave signal. A maximum power of -52 dBm corresponds to a frequency tuning range of 15%. Spectral measurements by controlling the central frequency of the filter with variable pulsewidth shows that the filter can be tuned at a rate of 120 GHz/mus.

DOI
10.1109/tmtt.2009.2017347

Related papers

SQUIDs as tunable inductors integrated in the design of filters

Raihan Rafique, Thomas Ohki, Anna Yurievna Herr

This work presents the dc-SQUID based tunable inductance and its relevance into the design of resonators and filters for the qubit application. The SQUID inductance depends on loop inductance, applied magnetic field and bias\ncurrent for a given thermal noise. Tunable resonators and\nfilters have been designed by replacing the inductances of the resonator with a chain of SQUIDs in series. A narrow bandpass filter with variable central frequency is useful for superconducting qubit applications, specifically for improving the line widths of Josephson junction oscillators. We have designed a tunable 3.5 GHz resonator and 2 GHz 7 stage Chebyshev filters to be fabricated in Hypres 4.5 kA/cm2 process. According to simulations, up to 50% of the operating frequency of the designed filter can be varied. We present data that shows a frequency tuning of >2 GHz.

•Jan 1, 2007•0 citations

Frequency-tunable superconducting resonators via nonlinear kinetic inductance

Michael R. Vissers, Johannes Hubmayr, Martin Sandberg +3 more

We have designed, fabricated, and tested a frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonator made from a niobium titanium nitride film. The frequency tunability is achieved by injecting a DC through a current-directing circuit into the nonlinear inductor whose kinetic inductance is current-dependent. We have demonstrated continuous tuning of the resonance frequency in a 180 MHz frequency range around 4.5 GHz while maintaining the high internal quality factor Qi > 180 000. This device may serve as a tunable filter and find applications in superconducting quantum computing and measurement. It also provides a useful tool to study the nonlinear response of a superconductor. In addition, it may be developed into techniques for measurement of the complex impedance of a superconductor at its transition temperature and for readout of transition-edge sensors.

arXiv:1507.05126•Applied Physics Letters•Aug 10, 2015•93 citations

Tunable superconducting transmissionline resonator for qubit coupling

Martin Sandberg

In this licentiate thesis design, fabrication, and measurements of tunable superconducting microwave transmission line resonators are described. The resonators are of quarter wavelength type were the tuning is achieved by changing one of the boundary conditions of the resonator through a tunable impedance. As tunable impedance the Josephson inductance in form of SQUIDs is used. The Josephson inductance can then be tuned by applying a magnetic field to the SQUID loop. A tuning range of 750 MHz for a 5 GHz resonator is achieved, and as a figure of merit it can be tuned over 200 line widths. The purpose of the tunable resonators is to use them for dynamic coupling of superconducting quantum bits, this requires that the resonators can be tuned fast on the timescale of the resonator-qubit coupling. To measure tuning speeds faster then the ring up time of the resonators a method that measures the leakage of energy out of a detuned resonator was developed. With this method a frequency shift of the energy stored in the resonator can be measured. A detuning of 330 MHz in less than 10 ns is demonstrated for a 4.5 GHz resonator with a quality factor of 10$^4$. Working in the few photon limit indicates that the devices can be used to change the frequency of individual photons, this is however still to be demonstrated. As a part of this work the dressed states of a superconducting charge qubit was also studied.

•Jan 1, 2008•0 citations

Tunable Superconducting Cavity using Superconducting Quantum Interference Device Metamaterials

Samuel Kim, David B. Shrekenhamer, K. McElroy +2 more

Abstract Here we consider a tunable superconducting cavity that can be used either as a tunable coupler to a qubit inside the cavity or as a tunable low noise, low temperature, RF filter. Our design consists of an array of radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference devices (rf SQUIDs) inside a superconducting cavity. This forms a tunable metamaterial structure which couples to the cavity through its magnetic plasma frequency. By tuning the resonant frequency of the metamaterial through an applied magnetic flux, one can tune the cavity mode profile. This allows us to detune the cavity initially centered at 5.593 GHz by over 200 MHz. The maximum quality factor approaches that of the empty cavity, which is 4.5 × 106. The metamaterial electromagnetic response is controlled via a low-frequency or dc magnetic flux bias, and we present a control line architecture that is capable of applying sufficient magnetic flux bias with minimal parasitic coupling. Together this design allows for an in-situ tunable cavity which enables low-temperature quantum control applications.

Scientific Reports•Mar 15, 2019•12 citations

Broadband tunable phase shifter for microwaves

Jinli Zhang, Tianyi Li, Roope Kokkoniemi +8 more

We implement a broadly tunable phase shifter for microwaves based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) and study it both experimentally and theoretically. At different frequencies, a unit transmission coefficient, |S21| = 1, can be theoretically achieved along a curve where the phase shift is controllable by the magnetic flux. The fabricated device consists of three equidistant SQUIDs interrupting a transmission line. We model each SQUID embedded at different positions along the transmission line with two parameters, capacitance and inductance, the values of which we extract from the experiments. In our experiments, the tunability of the phase shift varies from 0.07 × π to 0.14 × π radians along the full-transmission curve with the input frequency ranging from 6.00 GHz to 6.28 GHz. The reported measurements are in good agreement with simulations, which is promising for future design work of phase shifters for different applications.

arXiv:2003.01356•AIP Advances•Jun 1, 2020•7 citations

Design and experimental study of superconducting left-handed transmission lines with tunable dispersion

Е. А. Овчинникова, S. Butz, P. Jung +5 more

We study the microwave properties of a superconducting tunable coplanar waveguide (CPW). Pairs of Josephson junctions are forming superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), which shunt the central conductor of the CPW. The Josephson inductance of the SQUIDs is varied in the range of 0.08–0.5 nH by applying a dc magnetic field. The central conductor of the CPW contains Josephson junctions connected in series that provide extra inductances; the magnetic field controlling the SQUIDs is weak enough not to influence the inductance of the chain of the single junctions. The circuit is designed to have left- and right-handed transmission properties separated by a variable rejection band; the band edges can be tuned by the magnetic field. We present transmission measurements on CPWs based on up to 120 Nb–AlO x –Nb Josephson junctions. At zero magnetic field, we observed no rejection band in the frequency range of 8–11 GHz. When applying the magnetic field, a rejection band between 7 GHz and 9 GHz appears. The experimental data are compared with numerical simulations.

arXiv:1309.7557•Superconductor Science and Technology•Oct 7, 2013•16 citations
A superconductor bandpass filter with tunable central frequency in the range of 2-3.5 GHz has been implemented using superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). The filter is designed using two pi-network resonators connected by a transmission line. Both resonators have a SQUID inductor with a tuning range of 65-200 pH, controlled by current magnetically coupled to the SQUIDs. Over a frequency tunability of 1.5 GHz, the filter has a mid-band insertion loss of 0.5-3.0 dB and corresponding maximum unloaded quality factor of 40. Due to the presence of active elements, tunability of the filter depends on the power of the microwave signal. A maximum power of -52 dBm corresponds to a frequency tuning range of 15%. Spectral measurements by controlling the central frequency of the filter with variable pulsewidth shows that the filter can be tuned at a rate of 120 GHz/mus.
This work presents the dc-SQUID based tunable inductance and its relevance into the design of resonators and filters for the qubit application. The SQUID inductance depends on loop inductance, applied magnetic field and bias\ncurrent for a given thermal noise. Tunable resonators and\nfilters have been designed by replacing the inductances of the resonator with a chain of SQUIDs in series. A narrow bandpass filter with variable central frequency is useful for superconducting qubit applications, specifically for improving the line widths of Josephson junction oscillators. We have designed a tunable 3.5 GHz resonator and 2 GHz 7 stage Chebyshev filters to be fabricated in Hypres 4.5 kA/cm2 process. According to simulations, up to 50% of the operating frequency of the designed filter can be varied. We present data that shows a frequency tuning of >2 GHz.
We have designed, fabricated, and tested a frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonator made from a niobium titanium nitride film. The frequency tunability is achieved by injecting a DC through a current-directing circuit into the nonlinear inductor whose kinetic inductance is current-dependent. We have demonstrated continuous tuning of the resonance frequency in a 180 MHz frequency range around 4.5 GHz while maintaining the high internal quality factor Qi > 180 000. This device may serve as a tunable filter and find applications in superconducting quantum computing and measurement. It also provides a useful tool to study the nonlinear response of a superconductor. In addition, it may be developed into techniques for measurement of the complex impedance of a superconductor at its transition temperature and for readout of transition-edge sensors.
In this licentiate thesis design, fabrication, and measurements of tunable superconducting microwave transmission line resonators are described. The resonators are of quarter wavelength type were the tuning is achieved by changing one of the boundary conditions of the resonator through a tunable impedance. As tunable impedance the Josephson inductance in form of SQUIDs is used. The Josephson inductance can then be tuned by applying a magnetic field to the SQUID loop. A tuning range of 750 MHz for a 5 GHz resonator is achieved, and as a figure of merit it can be tuned over 200 line widths. The purpose of the tunable resonators is to use them for dynamic coupling of superconducting quantum bits, this requires that the resonators can be tuned fast on the timescale of the resonator-qubit coupling. To measure tuning speeds faster then the ring up time of the resonators a method that measures the leakage of energy out of a detuned resonator was developed. With this method a frequency shift of the energy stored in the resonator can be measured. A detuning of 330 MHz in less than 10 ns is demonstrated for a 4.5 GHz resonator with a quality factor of 104^44. Working in the few photon limit indicates that the devices can be used to change the frequency of individual photons, this is however still to be demonstrated. As a part of this work the dressed states of a superconducting charge qubit was also studied.
Abstract Here we consider a tunable superconducting cavity that can be used either as a tunable coupler to a qubit inside the cavity or as a tunable low noise, low temperature, RF filter. Our design consists of an array of radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference devices (rf SQUIDs) inside a superconducting cavity. This forms a tunable metamaterial structure which couples to the cavity through its magnetic plasma frequency. By tuning the resonant frequency of the metamaterial through an applied magnetic flux, one can tune the cavity mode profile. This allows us to detune the cavity initially centered at 5.593 GHz by over 200 MHz. The maximum quality factor approaches that of the empty cavity, which is 4.5 × 106. The metamaterial electromagnetic response is controlled via a low-frequency or dc magnetic flux bias, and we present a control line architecture that is capable of applying sufficient magnetic flux bias with minimal parasitic coupling. Together this design allows for an in-situ tunable cavity which enables low-temperature quantum control applications.
We implement a broadly tunable phase shifter for microwaves based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) and study it both experimentally and theoretically. At different frequencies, a unit transmission coefficient, |S21| = 1, can be theoretically achieved along a curve where the phase shift is controllable by the magnetic flux. The fabricated device consists of three equidistant SQUIDs interrupting a transmission line. We model each SQUID embedded at different positions along the transmission line with two parameters, capacitance and inductance, the values of which we extract from the experiments. In our experiments, the tunability of the phase shift varies from 0.07 × π to 0.14 × π radians along the full-transmission curve with the input frequency ranging from 6.00 GHz to 6.28 GHz. The reported measurements are in good agreement with simulations, which is promising for future design work of phase shifters for different applications.
We study the microwave properties of a superconducting tunable coplanar waveguide (CPW). Pairs of Josephson junctions are forming superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), which shunt the central conductor of the CPW. The Josephson inductance of the SQUIDs is varied in the range of 0.08–0.5 nH by applying a dc magnetic field. The central conductor of the CPW contains Josephson junctions connected in series that provide extra inductances; the magnetic field controlling the SQUIDs is weak enough not to influence the inductance of the chain of the single junctions. The circuit is designed to have left- and right-handed transmission properties separated by a variable rejection band; the band edges can be tuned by the magnetic field. We present transmission measurements on CPWs based on up to 120 Nb–AlO x –Nb Josephson junctions. At zero magnetic field, we observed no rejection band in the frequency range of 8–11 GHz. When applying the magnetic field, a rejection band between 7 GHz and 9 GHz appears. The experimental data are compared with numerical simulations.