Developing a Chemical and Structural Understanding of the Surface Oxide in a Niobium Superconducting Qubit.

Superconducting thin films of niobium have been extensively employed in transmon qubit architectures. Although these architectures have demonstrated improvements in recent years, further improvements in performance through materials engineering will aid in large-scale deployment. Here, we use information retrieved from secondary ion mass spectrometry and electron microscopy to conduct a detailed assessment of the surface oxide that forms in ambient conditions for transmon test qubit devices patterned from a niobium film.

Field-Enhanced Superconductivity in High-Frequency Niobium Accelerating Cavities.

The discovery of nitrogen-doping treatment revealed that the radio frequency surface resistance of niobium resonators may be significantly reduced when nitrogen impurities are dissolved as interstitials in the material. A peculiar behavior exhibited by N-doped cavities is the anti-Q slope, i.e.