Summary
Conventional superconductors have trouble performing well in magnetic fields required for electron spin resonance (ESR) – based quantum information processing applications. We can, however, use proximity engineering to select desired properties from different materials and combine them for improved superconducting performance in magnetic fields — an improvement that would have strong implications for the storage and transfer of quantum information in superconductor quantum circuits. In this project, we will construct composite heterostructures with nitrides, oxides and hybrid materials involving high-temperature superconducting oxides and “conventional” transition metals/nitrides. Later, we will use these new composite superconductors to demonstrate improved resonator performance and optimize growth and fabrication recipes towards large-scale quantum circuits. By optimizing the composite heterostructure, and through later integration in a superconducting quantum circuit, we hope to enable larger-scale, more efficient quantum computers.

Figure 1. Example of a nitride heterostructure with tapered interfaces for improved superconductivity proximity coupling. Images shown are STEM and EELS elemental mapping.
Related Content

Qubits and Quantum Effects in Biology
It is unknown whether biological processes make direct use of quantum effects, as opposed to depending merely on the influence of quantum physics on chemical bonding and molecular structure.
June 1, 2017
Folk Understanding of Quantum Physics
Summary It is often said that quantum concepts are counterintuitive. However, quantum concepts may not be equally counterintuitive to people from all cultural backgrounds. As cultural psychologists have discovered, culture fundamentally shapes the way people make sense of the world. In particular, the last few decades of research have documented cultural differences in appreciation of […]
March 24, 2021

Mesoscopic systems as coherent control elements
Summary Mesoscopic systems provide a new tool for quantum systems design. In particular, they are enabling of robust quantum control. Here “mesoscopic system” refers to a connected network where each element, if studied alone, would be a quantum bit. The network is too big to be treated fully quantum mechanically. We do not have individual […]
September 1, 2016
Implementing High-fidelity Quantum Gates in Multi-level Trapped Ions
Summary The scalability of quantum processors is limited by current error rates for single-qubit gates. By encoding more than a single bit of information within a single ion, multi-level “qudits” offer a promising method of increasing the information density within a quantum processor, and therefore minimizing the number of gates and associated error rates. […]
July 30, 2018