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 International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO)

Evaluation of quality factors in superconductor microresonators with proximity enhancement

Yongchao Tang, Olaf W. B. Benningshof, Hamid Reza Mohebbi, David G. Cory, Guo‐Xing Miao

Published Aug 1, 2014• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The quality factor of microstrip line resonators made of 20/50/20 nm Nb/NbN/Nb trilayer films has been calculated as microwave transmission through the cascade of three single layers, and in agreement with experimental data. Each layer is evaluated with an explicit extended Zimmermann expression. The formula is generalized from the standard expression by including electron mean free path and the imaginary part of the gap energy of the material [1]. The quality factor of the microresonator consisting of a 50 nm thick single layer Nb film is also calculated by this compact expression and quantitatively agrees with the measured results as well. The quality factor of the microresonator made of trilayer films is shown to be larger than that of the microresonator with only a single Nb film.

DOI
10.1109/nano.2014.6968001

Related papers

High-Quality Factor Superconducting Flexible Resonators Embedded in Thin-Film Polyimide HD-4110

Simin Zou, Yang Cao, Vaibhav Gupta +5 more

We present the design, fabrication procedure, and measurement results of Nb superconducting microstrip transmission line resonators fabricated using thin-film polyimide HD-4110, including both nonembedded and embedded versions. These resonators were used to characterize the microwave dielectric loss tangent of 20 μm thick polyimide HD-4110 at deep cryogenic temperatures. We observed high-quality factors (Q) up to 21 040 at 1.2 K in the frequency range of 2-21 GHz for nonembedded resonators, indicating that the dielectric loss tangent can be less than 5×10-5. Embedded resonators with an additional 20 μm thick encapsulation layer also exhibited Q values as high as ~19 200. Dielectric and conductor (quasiparticle) loss have been compared between the two types of resonators. This study provides information applicable to the design of future high-density, flexible, multilayer superconducting cables, which are of great interest for potential applications in cryogenic electronics systems, including quantum computers.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Aug 18, 2017•12 citations

Phonon engineering in proximity enhanced superconductor heterostructures

Yongchao Tang, Sangil Kwon, Hamid Reza Mohebbi +2 more

In this research, we tailor the phonon density of states (DOS) in thin superconducting films to suppress quasiparticle losses. We examine a model system of a proximity-enhanced three-layered Al/Nb/Al heterostructure and show that the local quantized phonon spectrum of the ultrathin Al cladding layers in the heterostructure has a pronounced effect on the superconducting resonator's quality factors. Instead of a monotonic increase of quality factors with decreasing temperatures, we observe the quality factor reaches a maximum at 1.2 K in 5/50/5 nm Al/Nb/Al microstrip resonators, because of a quantized phonon ladder. The phonon DOS may be engineered to enhance the performance of quantum devices.

Scientific Reports•Jun 21, 2017•2 citations

The effect of niobium thin film structure on losses in superconducting circuits

Maxwell Drimmer, Sjoerd Telkamp, Felix L. Fischer +7 more

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.

arXiv:2403.12164•Mar 18, 2024•5 citations

The effect of niobium thin film structure on losses in superconducting circuits

Maxwell Drimmer, Sjoerd Telkamp, Felix L. Fischer +7 more

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.

•Nov 5, 2025•0 citations

Increased quality factor in superconducting microstrip resonators by selective removal of the gold contact layer

Ralf Schneider, A. G. Zaitsev, Jochen Geerk +3 more

We present measurements of the unloaded quality factor of superconducting microstrip resonators at 77 K and 3.86 GHz. The resonators were made of 0.3 μm thick YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films with a transition temperature of 90 K on both sides of ceria-buffered 3 inch sapphire wafers. In particular, we investigated the effect of a 0.3 μm thick gold contact layer on the resonator performance. It was found that the gold layer decreases the quality factor by a factor of almost 5. This result is due to an additional microwave loss in the gold film which can be quantitatively described by the impedance transformation rules for transmission lines. On the basis of the quantitative analysis, we suggest a selective removal of the contact layer by appropriate patterning in order to eliminate the extra loss without deterioration of the low-ohmic galvanic contact to the microwave housing. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. Their comparison with the calculated surface current density in the ground plane shows that the contact layer has to be in an area where the current is zero. Furthermore, the results reveal that the surface current density distribution in the ground plane and microstrip depends on the microwave power.

Superconductor Science and Technology•Jan 9, 2002•3 citations

The effect of niobium thin film structure on losses in superconducting circuits

Maxwell Drimmer, Sjoerd Telkamp, Felix L Fischer +7 more

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.

Materials for Quantum Technology•Oct 14, 2025•4 citations
The quality factor of microstrip line resonators made of 20/50/20 nm Nb/NbN/Nb trilayer films has been calculated as microwave transmission through the cascade of three single layers, and in agreement with experimental data. Each layer is evaluated with an explicit extended Zimmermann expression. The formula is generalized from the standard expression by including electron mean free path and the imaginary part of the gap energy of the material [1]. The quality factor of the microresonator consisting of a 50 nm thick single layer Nb film is also calculated by this compact expression and quantitatively agrees with the measured results as well. The quality factor of the microresonator made of trilayer films is shown to be larger than that of the microresonator with only a single Nb film.
We present the design, fabrication procedure, and measurement results of Nb superconducting microstrip transmission line resonators fabricated using thin-film polyimide HD-4110, including both nonembedded and embedded versions. These resonators were used to characterize the microwave dielectric loss tangent of 20 μm thick polyimide HD-4110 at deep cryogenic temperatures. We observed high-quality factors (Q) up to 21 040 at 1.2 K in the frequency range of 2-21 GHz for nonembedded resonators, indicating that the dielectric loss tangent can be less than 5×10-5. Embedded resonators with an additional 20 μm thick encapsulation layer also exhibited Q values as high as ~19 200. Dielectric and conductor (quasiparticle) loss have been compared between the two types of resonators. This study provides information applicable to the design of future high-density, flexible, multilayer superconducting cables, which are of great interest for potential applications in cryogenic electronics systems, including quantum computers.
In this research, we tailor the phonon density of states (DOS) in thin superconducting films to suppress quasiparticle losses. We examine a model system of a proximity-enhanced three-layered Al/Nb/Al heterostructure and show that the local quantized phonon spectrum of the ultrathin Al cladding layers in the heterostructure has a pronounced effect on the superconducting resonator's quality factors. Instead of a monotonic increase of quality factors with decreasing temperatures, we observe the quality factor reaches a maximum at 1.2 K in 5/50/5 nm Al/Nb/Al microstrip resonators, because of a quantized phonon ladder. The phonon DOS may be engineered to enhance the performance of quantum devices.
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.
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 measurements of the unloaded quality factor of superconducting microstrip resonators at 77 K and 3.86 GHz. The resonators were made of 0.3 μm thick YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films with a transition temperature of 90 K on both sides of ceria-buffered 3 inch sapphire wafers. In particular, we investigated the effect of a 0.3 μm thick gold contact layer on the resonator performance. It was found that the gold layer decreases the quality factor by a factor of almost 5. This result is due to an additional microwave loss in the gold film which can be quantitatively described by the impedance transformation rules for transmission lines. On the basis of the quantitative analysis, we suggest a selective removal of the contact layer by appropriate patterning in order to eliminate the extra loss without deterioration of the low-ohmic galvanic contact to the microwave housing. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. Their comparison with the calculated surface current density in the ground plane shows that the contact layer has to be in an area where the current is zero. Furthermore, the results reveal that the surface current density distribution in the ground plane and microstrip depends on the microwave power.
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.