A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise
Abstract
Decoherence in quantum bits (qubits) is a major challenge for realizing scalable quantum computing. One of the primary causes of decoherence in qubits and quantum circuits based on superconductor Josephson junctions is the critical current fluctuation. Many efforts have been devoted to suppressing the critical current fluctuation in Josephson junctions. Nonetheless, the efforts have been hindered by the defect-induced trapping states in oxide-based tunnel barriers and the interfaces with superconductors in the traditional Josephson junctions. Motivated by this and also the recent demonstration of 2D insulator h-BN with exceptional crystallinity and low defect density, we fabricated a vertical NbSe2/h-BN/Nb Josephson junction consisting of a bottom NbSe2 superconductor thin layer and a top Nb superconductor spaced by an atomically thin h-BN layer. We further characterized the superconducting current and voltage (I-V) relationships and Fraunhofer pattern of the NbSe2/h-BN/Nb junction. Notably, we demonstrated the critical current noise (1/f noise power) in the h-BN-based Josephson device is at least a factor of four lower than that of the previously studied Aluminum oxide-based Josephson junctions. Our work offers a strong promise of h-BN as a novel tunnel barrier for high-quality Josephson junctions and qubit applications.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[4];
[3];
[5]
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States); National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
- National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States); Aarhus Univ. (Denmark); Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1979277
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 2335857
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0021281
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 33; Journal Issue: 49; Journal ID: ISSN 0953-8984
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; Josephson junctions; boron nitride; critical current noise
Citation Formats
Tian, Jifa, Jauregui, Luis A., Wilen, C. D., Rigosi, Albert F., Newell, David B., McDermott, R., and Chen, Yong P. A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f.
Tian, Jifa, Jauregui, Luis A., Wilen, C. D., Rigosi, Albert F., Newell, David B., McDermott, R., & Chen, Yong P. A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f
Tian, Jifa, Jauregui, Luis A., Wilen, C. D., Rigosi, Albert F., Newell, David B., McDermott, R., and Chen, Yong P. Fri .
"A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1979277.
@article{osti_1979277,
title = {A Josephson junction with h-BN tunnel barrier: observation of low critical current noise},
author = {Tian, Jifa and Jauregui, Luis A. and Wilen, C. D. and Rigosi, Albert F. and Newell, David B. and McDermott, R. and Chen, Yong P.},
abstractNote = {Decoherence in quantum bits (qubits) is a major challenge for realizing scalable quantum computing. One of the primary causes of decoherence in qubits and quantum circuits based on superconductor Josephson junctions is the critical current fluctuation. Many efforts have been devoted to suppressing the critical current fluctuation in Josephson junctions. Nonetheless, the efforts have been hindered by the defect-induced trapping states in oxide-based tunnel barriers and the interfaces with superconductors in the traditional Josephson junctions. Motivated by this and also the recent demonstration of 2D insulator h-BN with exceptional crystallinity and low defect density, we fabricated a vertical NbSe2/h-BN/Nb Josephson junction consisting of a bottom NbSe2 superconductor thin layer and a top Nb superconductor spaced by an atomically thin h-BN layer. We further characterized the superconducting current and voltage (I-V) relationships and Fraunhofer pattern of the NbSe2/h-BN/Nb junction. Notably, we demonstrated the critical current noise (1/f noise power) in the h-BN-based Josephson device is at least a factor of four lower than that of the previously studied Aluminum oxide-based Josephson junctions. Our work offers a strong promise of h-BN as a novel tunnel barrier for high-quality Josephson junctions and qubit applications.},
doi = {10.1088/1361-648x/ac268f},
journal = {Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter},
number = 49,
volume = 33,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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