arXiv subjects

Johannes Weber

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Weber.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Optimizing CMOS-compatible, superconducting titanium nitride resonators: Deposition conditions and structuring processes

We report on the fabrication and characterization of superconducting coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators based on titanium nitride (TiN) thin films deposited on 200\,mm diameter high-resistivity Si(100) substrates. We systematically investigate how deposition conditions, dry-etch power and in-situ resist strip temperature affect morphology, superconducting properties and dielectric losses. By tuning reactive sputtering conditions, three distinct preferred out-of-plane crystal orientations - (111), (200), and a mix of both are achieved. Our results demonstrate that all films exhibit similar minimal two-level system (TLS) losses, with TiN111 exhibiting the lowest median TLS losses $\tildeδ_\mathrm{TLS}$, and greater robustness against reoxidation. The applied structuring process, in contrast, has a far greater influence on the TLS loss than the crystal orientation of the TiN film and, consequently, the intrinsic material properties of the superconducting layer. The lowest TLS losses for all TiN depositions were achieved with a low power etch and low temperature resist strip. An additional buffered oxide etch (BOE) treatment could remove high-loss interfacial oxides at the metal-air (MA) and substrate-air (SA) interface and recover the etch-induced TLS losses. Consequently, TiN resonators exhibiting $\tildeδ_\mathrm{TLS}$ values as low as $9.67 \times 10^{-7}$ were realized. The corresponding median low-power loss, $\tildeδ_\mathrm{LP}$, amounts to $11.04 \times 10^{-7}$, which translates to an internal quality factor approaching one million. These findings highlight the critical role of process induced oxide formation at the MA and SA interfaces in limiting the performance of TiN resonators and provide a scalable, low-loss process compatible with industry-grade 200\,mm CMOS qubit fabrication workflows.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Surface Optimization of Superconducting Aluminum Resonators for Robust Quantum Device Fabrication

Aluminum (Al) remains the central material for superconducting qubits, and considerable effort has been devoted to optimizing its deposition and patterning for quantum devices. However, post-processing strategies focused on oxide removal of niobium (Nb) and tantalum (Ta) -based resonators using buffered oxide etch (BOE), which can not be used for Al. This challenge becomes particularly relevant for industry-scale fabrication with multi-chip bonding, where delays between sample preparation and cooldown require surface treatments that preserve low dielectric loss during extended exposure to ambient conditions. In this work, we investigate surface modification approaches for Al resonators subjected to a 24-hour delay prior to cryogenic measurement. Passivation using self-limiting oxygen and fluorine chemistries was evaluated utilizing different plasma processes. Remote oxygen plasma treatment reduced dielectric losses, in contrast to direct oxygen plasma. A fluorine-based plasma process was developed that passivated the Al surface for subsequent BOE treatment. However, the fluorine content in the surface resulted in higher loss, identifying fluorine as an unsuitable passivation material for Al resonators. Above all, selective oxide removal using HF (hydrogen fluoride) vapor and phosphoric acid yielded median dielectric losses as low as $\tildeδ_\mathrm{LP} = 5.7 \times 10^{-7}$ ($Q_\mathrm{LP} \approx 1.7\,\mathrm{M}$) with $\tildeδ_\mathrm{TLS} = 3.6 \times 10^{-7}$ ($Q_\mathrm{TLS} \approx 2.8\,\mathrm{M}$) in the single photon regime. Selective oxide removal provides a promising pathway for robust Al-based qubit fabrication, as it preserves low dielectric losses for a 24-hour delay before cooldown.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Stability studies on subtractively-fabricated CMOS-compatible superconducting transmon qubits

Developing fault-tolerant quantum processors with error correction demands large arrays of physical qubits whose key performance metrics (coherence times, control fidelities) must remain within specifications over both short and long timescales. Here we investigated the temporal stability of subtractively fabricated CMOS-compatible superconducting transmon qubits. During a single cooldown and over a period of 95 hours, we monitored several parameters for 8 qubits, including coherence times $T_1$ and $T_2^*$, which exhibit fluctuations originating primarily from the interaction between two-level system (TLS) defects and the host qubit. We also demonstrate that subtractively-fabricated superconducting quantum devices align with the theoretical predictions that higher mean lifetimes $T_1$ correspond to larger fluctuations. To assess long-term stability, we tracked two representative qubits over 10 cooldown cycles spanning more than one year. We observed an average total downward shift in both qubit transition frequencies of approximately 61 MHz within the thermal cycles considered. In contrast, readout resonator frequencies decreased only marginally. Meanwhile, $T_1$ exhibits fluctuations from cycle to cycle, but maintains a stable baseline value.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Temperature dependence of the magnon-phonon coupling in yttrium iron garnet/gadolinium gallium garnet high overtone bulk acoustic resonators

Weexperimentally study the temperature dependence of the magnon-phonon coupling in a yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) heterostructure. More specifically, we use broadband ferromagnetic resonance to investigate the magneto-elastic coupling between the Kittel mode of a YIG thin film and the transverse acoustic phonon modes of the YIG/GGG high overtone bulk acoustic wave acoustic resonator for in and out-of-plane field directions in the temperature range between T = 5K and 300K. We find that for a magnetic field applied normal to the film surface, magneto-elastic coupling decreases with decreasing temperature, whereas it increases for the in-plane magnetic field configuration. The observed temperature dependence differs from earlier observations on bulk YIG samples, which might be due to the temperature dependent stress imposed by the GGG substrate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Wafer-Scale Characterization of Al/AlxOy/Al Josephson Junctions at Room Temperature

Josephson junctions (JJs) are the key element of many devices operating at cryogenic temperatures. Development of time-efficient wafer-scale JJ characterization for process optimization and control of JJ fabrication is essential. Such statistical characterization has to rely on room temperature techniques since cryogenic measurements typically used for JJs are too time consuming and unsuitable for wafer-scale characterization. In this work, we show that from room temperature capacitance and current-voltage measurements, with proper data analysis, we can independently obtain useful parameters of the JJs on wafer-scale, like oxide thickness, tunnel coefficient, and interfacial defect densities. Moreover, based on detailed analysis of current vs voltage characteristics, different charge transport mechanisms across the junctions can be distinguished. We exemplary demonstrate the worth of these methods by studying junctions fabricated on 200 mm wafers with an industrially scale-able concept based on subtractive processing using only CMOS compatible tools. From these studies, we find that our subtractive fabrication approach yields junctions with quite homogeneous average oxide thickness across the full wafers, with a spread of less then 3$\,$%. The analysis also revealed a variation of the tunnel coefficient with oxide thickness, pointing to a stoichiometry gradient across the junctions' oxide width. Moreover, we estimated relatively low interfacial defect densities in the range of 70 - 5000$\,$defects/cm$^2$ for our junctions and established that the density increased with decreasing oxide thickness, indicating that the wet etching process applied in the JJs fabrication for oxide thickness control leads to formation of interfacial trap state

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Theory of polarization-dependent phonon pumping in ferromagnetic/non-magnetic bilayers

We develop a theoretical model for polarization-selective phonon pumping induced by magnon-phonon coupling in a ferromagnetic/non-magnetic acoustic bilayer structure, focusing on the effects arising from a misalignment between the magnetic and crystallographic symmetry axes. Our model considers the coupled equations of motion describing uniform magnetization dynamics (the Kittel mode) and elastic waves in both layers, incorporating phonon pumping and boundary conditions at the interface. We show that even small misalignments lift the degeneracy of transverse shear elastic modes, resulting in phononic birefringence characterized by distinct propagation velocities for linearly polarized modes. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that magnon-phonon hybridization gives magnetic-field-dependent properties to otherwise non-magnetic phonons. We show that the polarization transfer between linearly polarized phonons and the circularly polarized Kittel mode can be tuned with an external magnetic field. Our theoretical results quantitatively reproduce recent experimental findings [1].

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Development of TiN/AlN-based superconducting qubit components

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of superconducting qubit components from titanium nitride (TiN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) layers to create Josephson junctions and superconducting resonators in an all-nitride architecture. Our methodology comprises a complete process flow for the fabrication of TiN/AlN/TiN junctions, characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry and DC electrical measurements. We evaluated the sputtering rates of AlN under varied conditions, the critical temperatures of TiN thin films for different sputtering environments, and the internal quality factors of TiN resonators in the few-GHz regime, fabricated from these films. Overall, this offered insights into the material properties critical to qubit performance. Measurements of the dependence of the critical current of the TiN / AlN / TiN junctions yielded values ranging from 150 $μ$A to 2 $μ$A, for AlN barrier thicknesses up to ca. 5 nm, respectively. Our findings demonstrate advances in the fabrication of nitride-based superconducting qubit components, which may find applications in quantum computing technologies based on novel materials.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Tantalum thin films sputtered on silicon and on different seed layers: material characterization and coplanar waveguide resonator performance

Superconducting qubits are a promising platform for large-scale quantum computing. Besides the Josephson junction, most parts of a superconducting qubit are made of planar, patterned superconducting thin films. In the past, most qubit architectures have relied on niobium (Nb) as the material of choice for the superconducting layer. However, there is also a variety of alternative materials with potentially less losses, which may thereby result in increased qubit performance. One such material is tantalum (Ta), for which high-performance qubit components have already been demonstrated. In this study, we report the sputter-deposition of Ta thin films directly on heated and unheated silicon (Si) substrates as well as onto different, nanometer-thin seed layers from tantalum nitride (TaN), titanium nitride (TiN) or aluminum nitride (AlN) that were deposited first. The thin films are characterized in terms of surface morphology, crystal structure, phase composition, critical temperature, residual resistance ratio (RRR) and RF-performance. We obtain thin films indicative of pure alpha-Ta for high temperature (600°C) sputtering directly on silicon and for Ta deposited on TaN or TiN seed layers. Coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator measurements show that the Ta deposited directly on the heated silicon substrate performs best with internal quality factors $Q_i$ reaching 1 x $10^6$ in the single-photon regime, measured at $T=100 {\space \rm mK}$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Temperature dependence of the magnon-phonon interaction in high overtone bulk acoustic resonator-ferromagnetic thin film hybrids

Tailored magnon-phonon hybrid systems, where high overtone bulk acoustic resonators couple resonantly to the magnonic mode of a ferromagnetic thin film, are considered optimal for the creation of acoustic phonons with a defined circular polarization. This class of devices is therefore ideal for the investigation of phonon propagation properties and assessing their capacity to transport angular momentum in the classical and potentially even in the quantum regime. Here, we study the coupling between the magnons in a ferromagnetic \ch{Co25Fe75} thin film and the transverse acoustic phonons in a bulk acoustic wave resonators formed by the sapphire substrate onto which the film is deposited. Using broadband ferromagnetic resonance experiments as a function of temperature, we investigate the strength of the coherent magnon-phonon interaction and the individual damping rates of the magnons and phonons participating in the process. This demonstrates that this coupled magnon-phonon system can reach a cooperativity $C\approx 1$ at cryogenic temperatures. Our experiments also showcase the potential of strongly coupled magnon-phonon systems for strain sensing applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Chiral phonons and phononic birefringence in ferromagnetic metal - bulk acoustic resonator hybrids

Magnomechanical devices, in which magnetic excitations couple to mechanical vibrations, have been discussed as efficient and broadband microwave signal transducers in the classical and quantum limit. We experimentally investigate the magnetoelastic coupling between the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) modes in a metallic Co$_{25}$Fe$_{75}$ thin film, featuring ultra-low magnetic damping as well as sizable magnetostriction, and standing transverse elastic phonon modes in sapphire, silicon and gadolinium gallium garnet by performing broadband FMR spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures. For all these substrate materials, we observe an interaction between the resonant acoustic and magnetic modes, which can be tailored by the propagation direction of the acoustic mode with respect to the crystallographic axes. We identify these phonon modes as transverse shear waves propagating with slightly different velocities with relative magnitudes of $Δv/v\simeq10^{-5}$, i.e., all substrates show phononic birefringence. Upon appropriately choosing the phononic mode, the hybrid magnomechanical system enters the Purcell enhanced coupling regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Realistic in-medium heavy-quark potential from high statistics lattice QCD simulations

We present our first results on a direct computation of the complex in-medium heavy quark potential from realistic lattice QCD simulations. Ensembles with $N_τ=12$ from the HotQCD and TUMQCD collaboration offer unprecedented high statistics, those with $N_τ=16$ unprecedented time resolution, making possible a robust extraction of the real part from the spectral functions of Wilson line correlators. To this end we deploy a combination of a Bayesian reconstruction (BR method), as well as a Padé-like approximation. We corroborate findings made on less realistic lattices that ${\rm Re}[V]$ smoothly transitions from a confining to a screened behavior at high temperatures and its values lie close to the color singlet free energies. A finite value of the ${\rm Im}[V]$ is observed in the quark-gluon-plasma phase.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2016

The metrology system of the VLTI instrument GRAVITY

The VLTI instrument GRAVITY combines the beams from four telescopes and provides phase-referenced imaging as well as precision-astrometry of order 10 microarcseconds by observing two celestial objects in dual-field mode. Their angular separation can be determined from their differential OPD (dOPD) when the internal dOPDs in the interferometer are known. Here, we present the general overview of the novel metrology system which performs these measurements. The metrology consists of a three-beam laser system and a homodyne detection scheme for three-beam interference using phase-shifting interferometry in combination with lock-in amplifiers. Via this approach the metrology system measures dOPDs on a nanometer-level.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

The GRAVITY instrument software / High-level software

GRAVITY is the four-beam, near- infrared, AO-assisted, fringe tracking, astrometric and imaging instrument for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). It is requiring the development of one of the most complex instrument software systems ever built for an ESO instrument. Apart from its many interfaces and interdependencies, one of the most challenging aspects is the overall performance and stability of this complex system. The three infrared detectors and the fast reflective memory network (RMN) recorder contribute a total data rate of up to 20 MiB/s accumulating to a maximum of 250 GiB of data per night. The detectors, the two instrument Local Control Units (LCUs) as well as the five LCUs running applications under TAC (Tools for Advanced Control) architecture, are interconnected with fast Ethernet, RMN fibers and dedicated fiber connections as well as signals for the time synchronization. Here we give a simplified overview of all subsystems of GRAVITY and their interfaces and discuss two examples of high-level applications during observations: the acquisition procedure and the gathering and merging of data to the final FITS file.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

An introduction to lattice hadron spectroscopy for students without quantum field theoretical background

The intention of these lecture notes is to outline the basics of lattice hadron spectroscopy to students from other fields of physics, e.g. from experimental particle physics, who do not necessarily have a background in quantum field theory. After a brief motivation and discussion of QCD, it is explained, how QCD can in principle be solved numerically using lattice QCD. The main part of these lecture notes is concerned with quantum numbers of hadrons, corresponding hadron creation operators, and how the mass of a hadron can be determined from a temporal correlation function of such operators. Finally, three recent lattice hadron spectroscopy examples from the literature are discussed on an elementary level.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2010

Minimally doubled fermions and their renormalization

Minimally doubled fermions have been proposed as a strictly local discretization of the QCD quark action, which also preserves chiral symmetry at finite cut-off. We study the renormalization and mixing properties of two particular realizations of minimally doubled fermions in lattice perturbation theory at one loop, and we construct conserved axial currents which have a simple form involving only nearest-neighbours sites. We also introduce a notation which allows a unified description of the renormalization properties of both actions.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2010

Renormalization of minimally doubled fermions

We investigate the renormalization properties of minimally doubled fermions, at one loop in perturbation theory. Our study is based on the two particular realizations of Borici-Creutz and Karsten-Wilczek. A common feature of both formulations is the breaking of hyper-cubic symmetry, which requires that the lattice actions are supplemented by suitable counterterms. We show that three counterterms are required in each case and determine their coefficients to one loop in perturbation theory. For both actions we compute the vacuum polarization of the gluon. It is shown that no power divergences appear and that all contributions which arise from the breaking of Lorentz symmetry are cancelled by the counterterms. We also derive the conserved vector and axial-vector currents for Karsten-Wilczek fermions. Like in the case of the previously studied Borici-Creutz action, one obtains simple expressions, involving only nearest-neighbour sites. We suggest methods how to fix the coefficients of the counterterms non-perturbatively and discuss the implications of our findings for practical simulations.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

Minimally doubled fermions at one-loop level

Single fermionic degrees of freedom together with standard chiral symmetry at finite lattice spacing, correct continuum limit and local interactions only are precluded by the Nielsen-Ninomiya no-go theorem. The class of minimally doubled fermion actions exhibits exactly two chiral modes. Recent interest in these actions has been sparked by the investigation of fermionic actions defined on "hyperdiamond" lattices. Due to the necessity of breaking hypercubic symmetry explicitly, radiative corrections generate operator mixings with relevant and marginal operators that should vanish in continuum QCD. These cannot be avoided and must be taken into account in particular by a peculiar wave-function renormalisation and additive momentum renormalisation. Renormalisation properties at one-loop level of the self-energy, local bilinears and conserved vector and axial-vector currents are presented for Borici-Creutz and Karsten-Wilczek actions. Distinct differences and similarities between both actions are elucidated.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2009

Minimally doubled fermions at one loop

Minimally doubled fermions have been proposed as a cost-effective realization of chiral symmetry at non-zero lattice spacing. Using lattice perturbation theory at one loop, we study their renormalization properties. Specifically, we investigate the consequences of the breaking of hyper-cubic symmetry, which is a typical feature of this class of fermionic discretizations. Our results for the quark self-energy indicate that the four-momentum undergoes a renormalization which contains a linearly divergent piece. We also compute renormalization factors for quark bilinears, construct the conserved vector and axial-vector currents and verify that at one loop the renormalization factors of the latter are equal to one.

hep-lat↗