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IEEE International Electrical and Energy Conference (CIEEC)

Electrical metrology based on quantum technology: a review of current progress

Siyun Wang, Meimei Duan, Qing Yang Xu, Zigang Lu, Guofang Xia, Dan Gong, Yongxian Yi, Jin Bao

Published May 27, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The development of power system has put forward higher requirements for electrical metrology. However, the traditional measurement based on artefact has encountered a bottleneck due to its instability. In order to reduce the uncertainty of measurement, metrology based on quantum technology has been wildly studied. This paper introduces the principle of quantum voltage and two types of Josephson voltage standards, programmable Josephson voltage standards and AC Josephson voltage standards. The development and current progress of quantum voltage is introduced.

DOI
10.1109/cieec54735.2022.9845825

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The development of power system has put forward higher requirements for electrical metrology. However, the traditional measurement based on artefact has encountered a bottleneck due to its instability. In order to reduce the uncertainty of measurement, metrology based on quantum technology has been wildly studied. This paper introduces the principle of quantum voltage and two types of Josephson voltage standards, programmable Josephson voltage standards and AC Josephson voltage standards. The development and current progress of quantum voltage is introduced.
The programmable quantum voltage standard (PJVS) is a type of quantum voltage standard capable of generating AC waveforms accurately. This paper systematically summarizes the research progress of PJVS. The basic principles of PJVS are elaborated, focusing on the sources of transient errors and methods for error suppression. The development history of PJVS chips is reviewed, the fabrication of low-temperature superconducting Josephson junction arrays, the core characteristics of PJVS chips, and the research progress of PJVS chips at home and abroad are briefly summarized. The main application of PJVS are sorted out and summarized, the setup, key indicators, and practical application scenarios of quantum voltmeters, impedance bridges, and quantum current measurements are specifically analyzed. This paper also deeply explores the differential sampling method of PJVS and comparatively analyzes the two technical routes of differential sampling and subsampling. It conducts a comparative study on the two-terminal and four-terminal impedance bridges based on PJVS and summarizes their application status in various countries. It analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of current standards based on PJVS and single-electron tunneling schemes, and introduces the programmable quantum current standard based on Ohm’s law. Finally, this paper prospects the future development trend of PJVS from two dimensions of the breakthrough of core underlying chip technologies and the optimization of system integration.
The past few decades have witnessed great progress being made from the first voltage standards based on arrays of Josephson junctions. Continuous improvements in the fabrication process have increased the quality and “user-friendliness” of these superconducting circuits. Combined with the improvements in measuring electronics, the range of applications of Josephson-based measurements with unmatched precision has extended from DC into AC voltage metrology for signal frequencies up to 500 kHz. In this poster we will present several Josephson-based measurement systems developed for metrology applications. Two versions of quantum AC standards will be used as Josephson references: Programmable Josephson Voltage Standards (PJVS), which are based on serial arrays with up to 300,000 Josephson junctions, and pulse-driven arrays with more than 50,000 junctions, typically referred to as Josephson Arbitrary Waveform Synthesizers (JAWS). PJVS can reach amplitudes of up to 80 V, while pulse-driven arrays can reach up to 1 V or even 4 V. The advantage of pulse-driven Josephson voltage standards is that they are ideally suited as quantum-based voltage synthesizers for arbitrary waveforms or sine waves with high spectral purity. Therefore, they can be used directly to characterize or calibrate ADCs. In addition, JAWS are particularly useful in Josephson impedance bridges, which perform automated impedance calibrations at the 10-9 uncertainty level over a wide frequency range from 50 Hz to 80 kHz in a single bridge. We will further show how PJVS are used in commercial quantum voltmeters for DC and AC voltages and are typically used as quantum voltage references in measurement systems. Using differential sampling based on PJVS, uncertainties at the level of a few parts in 108 for frequencies up to the kHz range can be achieved. Such quantum-based AC voltage calibrations are at least 30 times faster than conventional AC-DC transfer and offer even better uncertainties. This idea has been quickly adopted by many National Metrology Institutes to establish such systems for AC voltage calibrations. As an example, the BIPM will now start worldwide onsite comparisons to ensure the uniformity of the new method which we introduced in 2006. But developments continue. Recently, a sub-sampling technique was used to extend the frequency range of the AC quantum voltmeter to up to 100 kHz with uncertainties below 5 parts in 106. In addition, a novel method, also for differential sampling, enables the measurement of arbitrary waveforms and the calibration of specific tones. Our poster will provide an overview of these Josephson-based metrological applications and present the latest developments from this fast-developing area.
As thorough readers of this book have begun to discover by this chapter on metrology, the most widely used applications of superconducting electronics involve measurements of electromagnetic phenomena. Unlike most other phenomena used for measurements, superconductivity is also essential for electrical standards. Because it is a quantum phenomenon, it can represent voltage in terms of fundamental constants with an amazing precision of a few parts in 1019. In some regards superconducting voltage standards based on arrays of Josephson junctions are the most successful application of superconductivity, considering the numbers of junctions and their worldwide use. While they are conceptually simple, it has taken almost 50 years for their underlying technology to progress from unreliable single junctions to robust, complex, three-dimensional integrated circuits having more than 300,000 junctions and producing precision ac voltages up to 10 V. Here is their story.
The design, fabrication, and the characterization of a 0.5-V Josephson junction array device are presented for the quantum voltage standards in the National Institute of Metrology (NIM) of China. The device consists of four junction arrays, each of which has 1200 3-stacked Nb/Nb x Si1−x /Nb junctions and an on-chip superconducting microwave circuit which is mainly a power divider enabling each Josephson array being loaded with an equal amount of microwave power. A direct current (dc) quantum voltage of about 0.5 V with a ∼1-mA current margin of the 1st quantum voltage step is obtained. To further prove the quality of NIM device, a comparison between the NIM device with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) programmable Josephson voltage standard (PJVS) system device is conducted. The difference of the reproduced 0.5-V quantum voltage between the two devices is about 0.55 nV, which indicates good agreement between the two devices. With the homemade device, we have realized a precise and applicable 0.5-V applicable-level quantum voltage.
The performance of programmable voltage signals that exploit the quantum behavior of superconducting Josephson junctions continues to improve and enhance measurements in metrology, communications, and quantum control. We review advances in pulse-driven digital synthesis techniques with Josephson-junction-based devices. Quantum-based synthesis of voltage waveforms has been demonstrated at frequencies up to 3 GHz and rms amplitudes up to 4 V. Josephson pulse generators have also been used to control and characterize superconducting qubits.