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Superconductor Science and Technology

Comparison of two-level system microwave losses in pure bulk microcrystalline Nb 2 O 5 and NbO 2 oxide samples

Vishal Ganesan, Jiankun Zhang, Drew G. Wild, Alexey Bezryadin

Published Aug 1, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Losses from two-level systems (TLS) associated with amorphous oxides remain one of the primary limitations to the performance of superconducting qubits and microwave cavities. Niobium resonators are widely used in quantum science experiments, yet niobium’s natural oxide layer contains various types of oxides whose relative contributions to TLS loss have not been clearly distinguished. Here, we use a superconducting 3D microwave cavity to measure commercial 99.9% trace metal pure, microcrystalline oxide powders Nb 2 O 5 and NbO 2 in bulk amounts. Using this approach, we directly compare the loss characteristics of Nb 2 O 5 and NbO 2 . Our measurements show that the nominal Nb 2 O 5 bulk oxide powder samples exhibit losses which have the power and temperature behavior expected for TLS. Moreover, the measurements agree with existing theoretical models. Analogous measurements performed on NbO 2 bulk powder samples do not show any detectable TLS loss signatures. Based on our results we propose that the TLS losses might be reduced if a high quality microcrystalline NbO 2 oxide dominates the Nb 2 O 5 oxide in practical Nb cavities. These results establish a materials based strategy for isolating oxide specific TLS losses and provide a reference measurement for niobium oxide phases relevant to superconducting quantum devices.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6668/ae940d

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Abstract Losses from two-level systems (TLS) associated with amorphous oxides remain one of the primary limitations to the performance of superconducting qubits and microwave cavities. Niobium resonators are widely used in quantum science experiments, yet niobium’s natural oxide layer contains various types of oxides whose relative contributions to TLS loss have not been clearly distinguished. Here, we use a superconducting 3D microwave cavity to measure commercial 99.9% trace metal pure, microcrystalline oxide powders Nb 2 O 5 and NbO 2 in bulk amounts. Using this approach, we directly compare the loss characteristics of Nb 2 O 5 and NbO 2 . Our measurements show that the nominal Nb 2 O 5 bulk oxide powder samples exhibit losses which have the power and temperature behavior expected for TLS. Moreover, the measurements agree with existing theoretical models. Analogous measurements performed on NbO 2 bulk powder samples do not show any detectable TLS loss signatures. Based on our results we propose that the TLS losses might be reduced if a high quality microcrystalline NbO 2 oxide dominates the Nb 2 O 5 oxide in practical Nb cavities. These results establish a materials based strategy for isolating oxide specific TLS losses and provide a reference measurement for niobium oxide phases relevant to superconducting quantum devices.
Losses from two-level systems (TLS) associated with amorphous oxides remain one of the primary limitations to the performance of superconducting qubits and microwave cavities. Niobium resonators are widely used in quantum science experiments, yet niobium's natural oxide layer contains various types of oxides whose relative contributions to TLS loss have not been clearly distinguished. Here, we use a superconducting 3D microwave cavity to measure commercial 99.9\% trace metal pure, microcrystalline oxide powders \ch{Nb2O5} and \ch{NbO2} in bulk amounts. Using this approach, we directly compare the loss characteristics of \ch{Nb2O5} and \ch{NbO2}. Our measurements show that the nominal \ch{Nb2O5} bulk oxide powder samples exhibit losses which have the power and temperature behavior expected for TLS. Moreover, the measurements agree with existing theoretical models. Analogous measurements performed on \ch{NbO2} bulk powder samples do not show any detectable TLS loss signatures. Based on our results we propose that the TLS losses might be reduced if a high quality microcrystalline \ch{NbO2} oxide dominates the \ch{Nb2O5} oxide in practical Nb cavities. These results establish a materials based strategy for isolating oxide specific TLS losses and provide a reference measurement for niobium oxide phases relevant to superconducting quantum devices.
Niobium films typically constitute a significant component in the construction of modern two-dimensional superconducting qubit architectures, yet their contribution to the total decay rate is not fully understood, making it difficult to definitively identify dominant loss channels in present designs. We present the first study, which correlates direct measurements of RF losses in such films to material parameters by investigating a high-power impulse magnetron sputtered (HiPIMS) film atop a three-dimensional niobium superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) resonator. Our findings indicate that microwave dissipation in the HiPIMS-prepared niobium films, within the quantum regime, resembles that of record-high intrinsic quality factor of bulk niobium SRF cavities, with lifetimes extending into seconds. Microstructure and impurity level of the niobium film do not significantly affect the losses. These results set the scale of microwave losses in niobium films and show that niobium losses do not dominate the observed coherence times in present two-dimensional superconducting qubit designs, instead highlighting the role of the dielectric oxide in limiting the performance.
Niobium films are a key component in modern two-dimensional superconducting qubits, yet their contribution to the total qubit decay rate is not fully understood. The presence of different layers of materials and interfaces makes it difficult to identify the dominant loss channels in present two-dimensional qubit designs. In this paper, we present the study that directly correlates measurements of RF losses in such films to material parameters by investigating a high-power impulse magnetron sputtered (HiPIMS) film atop a three-dimensional niobium superconducting radio frequency (SRF) resonator. By using a 3D SRF structure, we are able to isolate the niobium film loss from other contributions. Our findings indicate that microwave dissipation in the HiPIMS-prepared niobium films, within the quantum regime, resembles that of record-high intrinsic quality factor of bulk niobium SRF cavities, with lifetimes extending into seconds. Microstructure and impurity level of the niobium film do not significantly affect the losses. These results set the scale of microwave losses in niobium films and show that niobium losses do not dominate the observed coherence times in present two-dimensional superconducting qubit designs, instead highlighting the dominant role of the dielectric oxide in limiting the performance. We can also set a bound for when niobium film losses will become a limitation for qubit lifetimes.
While several experiments claim that two-level system (TLS) defects in amorphous surfaces and interfaces are responsible for energy relaxation in superconducting resonators and qubits, none can provide quantitative explanation of their data in terms of the conventional noninteracting TLS model. Here a model that interpolates between the interacting and noninteracting TLS loss tangent is proposed to perform numerical analysis of experimental data and extract information about TLS parameters and their distribution. As a proof of principle, the model is applied to TESLA cavities that contain only a single lossy material in their interior, the niobium-niobium oxide interface. The best fits show interacting TLSs with a sharp modulus of electric dipole moment for both thin (5nm5\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}5nm) and thick (100nm100\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}100nm) oxides, indicating that the TLSs are ``atomic'' instead of ``glassy.'' The proposed method can be applied to other devices with multiple material interfaces and substrates, with the goal of elucidating the nature of TLSs causing energy loss in resonators and qubits.
Materials imperfections in Nb -based superconducting quantum circuits—in particular, two-level-system (TLS) defects—are a major source of decoherence, ultimately limiting the performance of quantum computation and sensing. Thus, identifying and understanding the microscopic origin of possible TLS defects in these devices will help develop strategies that eliminate them, which are key to superconducting qubit performance improvement. In this paper, we demonstrate an order-of-magnitude reduction in two-level system losses in three-dimensional superconducting radio frequency (SRF) niobium resonators by a 10-h high vacuum (HV) heat treatment at 650 °C, even after exposure to air and high-pressure rinsing (HPR). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) reveal an alteration of the native oxide composition regrown after air exposure and HPR and the creation of nanoscale crystalline oxide regions, which correlates with the measured tenfold quality factor enhancement at low fields of the 1.3 GHz niobium resonator. Tunneling spectroscopy measurements show a pronounced proximity effect that further confirms the presence of metallic layers on the niobium surface.
Superconducting qubits are a leading system for realizing large-scale quantum processors, but overall gate fidelities suffer from coherence times limited by microwave dielectric loss.Recently discovered tantalum-based qubits exhibit record lifetimes exceeding 0.3 ms.Here, we perform systematic, detailed measurements of superconducting tantalum resonators in order to disentangle sources of loss that limit state-of-the-art tantalum devices.By studying the dependence of loss on temperature, microwave photon number, and device geometry, we quantify materials-related losses and observe that the losses are dominated by several types of saturable two-level systems (TLSs), with evidence that both surface and bulk related TLSs contribute to loss.Moreover, we show that surface TLSs can be altered with chemical processing.With four different surface conditions, we quantitatively extract the linear absorption associated with different surface TLS sources.Finally, we quantify the impact of the chemical processing at singlephoton powers, the relevant conditions for qubit device performance.In this regime, we measure resonators with internal quality factors ranging from 5 to 15 × 10 6 , comparable to the best qubits reported.In these devices, the surface and bulk TLS contributions to loss are comparable, showing that systematic improvements in materials on both fronts are necessary to improve qubit coherence further.