Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch
The performance of superconducting qubits is often limited by dissipation and two-level systems (TLS) losses. The dominant sources of these losses are believed to originate from amorphous materials and defects at interfaces and surfaces, likely as a result of fabrication processes or ambient exposur...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Materials for Quantum Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/ad88cc |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850052825953861632 |
|---|---|
| author | Cameron J Kopas Dominic P Goronzy Thang Pham Carlos G Torres Castanedo Matthew Cheng Rory Cochrane Patrick Nast Ella Lachman Nikolay Z Zhelev André Vallières Akshay A Murthy Jin-su Oh Lin Zhou Matthew J Kramer Hilal Cansizoglu Michael J Bedzyk Vinayak P Dravid Alexander Romanenko Anna Grassellino Josh Y Mutus Mark C Hersam Kameshwar Yadavalli |
| author_facet | Cameron J Kopas Dominic P Goronzy Thang Pham Carlos G Torres Castanedo Matthew Cheng Rory Cochrane Patrick Nast Ella Lachman Nikolay Z Zhelev André Vallières Akshay A Murthy Jin-su Oh Lin Zhou Matthew J Kramer Hilal Cansizoglu Michael J Bedzyk Vinayak P Dravid Alexander Romanenko Anna Grassellino Josh Y Mutus Mark C Hersam Kameshwar Yadavalli |
| author_sort | Cameron J Kopas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The performance of superconducting qubits is often limited by dissipation and two-level systems (TLS) losses. The dominant sources of these losses are believed to originate from amorphous materials and defects at interfaces and surfaces, likely as a result of fabrication processes or ambient exposure. Here, we explore a novel wet chemical surface treatment at the Josephson junction-substrate and the substrate-air interfaces by replacing a buffered oxide etch (BOE) cleaning process with one that uses hydrofluoric acid followed by aqueous ammonium fluoride. We show that the ammonium fluoride etch process results in a statistically significant improvement in median $\text{T}_1$ by $\sim22\%$ ( p = 0.002), and a reduction in the number of strongly-coupled TLS in the tunable frequency range. Microwave resonator measurements on samples treated with the ammonium fluoride etch after niobium deposition and etching also show $\sim33\%$ lower TLS-induced loss tangent compared to the BOE treated samples. As the chemical treatment primarily modifies the Josephson junction-substrate interface and substrate-air interface, we perform targeted chemical and structural characterizations to examine materials differences at these interfaces and identify multiple microscopic changes that could contribute to decreased TLS losses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e6e88d4a421f4fdc910803785b0e9e5c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2633-4356 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials for Quantum Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e6e88d4a421f4fdc910803785b0e9e5c2025-08-20T02:52:42ZengIOP PublishingMaterials for Quantum Technology2633-43562024-01-014404510110.1088/2633-4356/ad88ccEnhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etchCameron J Kopas0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6184-2987Dominic P Goronzy1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2856-4732Thang Pham2Carlos G Torres Castanedo3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4505-7970Matthew Cheng4Rory Cochrane5Patrick Nast6Ella Lachman7Nikolay Z Zhelev8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5344-6298André Vallières9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0769-8432Akshay A Murthy10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7677-6866Jin-su Oh11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7462-3142Lin Zhou12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2286-6510Matthew J Kramer13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9097-6730Hilal Cansizoglu14Michael J Bedzyk15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1026-4558Vinayak P Dravid16Alexander Romanenko17Anna Grassellino18Josh Y Mutus19Mark C Hersam20https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4120-1426Kameshwar Yadavalli21Rigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaCenter for Applied Physics and Superconducting Technologies, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Department of Physics, University of Oregon , Eugene, OR, United States of AmericaGraduate Program in Applied Physics, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, United States of America; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , Batavia, IL, United States of AmericaFermi National Accelerator Laboratory , Batavia, IL, United States of AmericaAmes National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy , Ames, IA, United States of AmericaAmes National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy , Ames, IA, United States of AmericaAmes National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy , Ames, IA, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center (NUANCE), Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaFermi National Accelerator Laboratory , Batavia, IL, United States of AmericaFermi National Accelerator Laboratory , Batavia, IL, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL, United States of America; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering , Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of AmericaRigetti Computing , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaThe performance of superconducting qubits is often limited by dissipation and two-level systems (TLS) losses. The dominant sources of these losses are believed to originate from amorphous materials and defects at interfaces and surfaces, likely as a result of fabrication processes or ambient exposure. Here, we explore a novel wet chemical surface treatment at the Josephson junction-substrate and the substrate-air interfaces by replacing a buffered oxide etch (BOE) cleaning process with one that uses hydrofluoric acid followed by aqueous ammonium fluoride. We show that the ammonium fluoride etch process results in a statistically significant improvement in median $\text{T}_1$ by $\sim22\%$ ( p = 0.002), and a reduction in the number of strongly-coupled TLS in the tunable frequency range. Microwave resonator measurements on samples treated with the ammonium fluoride etch after niobium deposition and etching also show $\sim33\%$ lower TLS-induced loss tangent compared to the BOE treated samples. As the chemical treatment primarily modifies the Josephson junction-substrate interface and substrate-air interface, we perform targeted chemical and structural characterizations to examine materials differences at these interfaces and identify multiple microscopic changes that could contribute to decreased TLS losses.https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/ad88ccsuperconducting qubitstwo-level systemsfabricationinterfaces |
| spellingShingle | Cameron J Kopas Dominic P Goronzy Thang Pham Carlos G Torres Castanedo Matthew Cheng Rory Cochrane Patrick Nast Ella Lachman Nikolay Z Zhelev André Vallières Akshay A Murthy Jin-su Oh Lin Zhou Matthew J Kramer Hilal Cansizoglu Michael J Bedzyk Vinayak P Dravid Alexander Romanenko Anna Grassellino Josh Y Mutus Mark C Hersam Kameshwar Yadavalli Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch Materials for Quantum Technology superconducting qubits two-level systems fabrication interfaces |
| title | Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| title_full | Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| title_fullStr | Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| title_short | Enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| title_sort | enhanced superconducting qubit performance through ammonium fluoride etch |
| topic | superconducting qubits two-level systems fabrication interfaces |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2633-4356/ad88cc |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cameronjkopas enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT dominicpgoronzy enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT thangpham enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT carlosgtorrescastanedo enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT matthewcheng enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT rorycochrane enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT patricknast enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT ellalachman enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT nikolayzzhelev enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT andrevallieres enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT akshayamurthy enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT jinsuoh enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT linzhou enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT matthewjkramer enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT hilalcansizoglu enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT michaeljbedzyk enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT vinayakpdravid enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT alexanderromanenko enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT annagrassellino enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT joshymutus enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT markchersam enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch AT kameshwaryadavalli enhancedsuperconductingqubitperformancethroughammoniumfluorideetch |