arXiv subjects

Thomas Mayer

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Mayer.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Generation of an anomalous linearly dispersing spin-polarized band in Bi-based topological insulators

We report the generation of an anomalous linearly dispersing, spin-polarized band in Bi-based topological insulator (TI) thin films, induced by soft Ar-ion bombardment followed by annealing. This extra band -- which we call the anomalous linearly dispersing state (ALS) -- is superimposed on the regular band structure including the topological surface state (TSS), spans an unusually large energetic range of up to ${\sim}\,\SI{650}{\milli\electronvolt}$ at the $\Gamma$-point, and appears near the Fermi energy. Spin-resolved measurements indicate spin-momentum locking with a helicity \emph{opposite} to that of the regular TSS. The Fermi velocity of the ALS, $v_\mathrm{F} = (5.1\pm 0.4)\times 10^{5}\,\frac m s$, is indistinguishable from that of the regular TSS, $(5.3\pm 0.5)\times 10^{5}\,\frac m s$. The observation is reproducible across samples of varying thickness and was confirmed at two independent synchrotron radiation facilities. We discuss different mechanisms for the physical origin of the observed ALS including sputtering-induced TSS relocation, bi-layer formation by,e.g., chalcogen removal, and high-index surface relocation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

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 $\tilde{\delta}_\mathrm{TLS}$, 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 $\tilde{\delta}_\mathrm{TLS}$ values as low as $9.67 \times 10^{-7}$ were realized. The corresponding median low-power loss, $\tilde{\delta}_\mathrm{LP}$, 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 $\tilde{\delta}_\mathrm{LP} = 5.7 \times 10^{-7}$ ($Q_\mathrm{LP} \approx 1.7\,\mathrm{M}$) with $\tilde{\delta}_\mathrm{TLS} = 3.6 \times 10^{-7}$ ($Q_\mathrm{TLS} \approx 2.8\,\mathrm{M}$) 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↗

arXiv2025

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↗

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↗

arXiv2024

Tracing Dirac points of topological surface states by ferromagnetic resonance

Ferromagnetic resonance is used to reveal features of the buried electronic band structure at interfaces between ferromagnetic metals and topological insulators. By monitoring the evolution of magnetic damping, the application of this method to a hybrid structure consisting of a ferromagnetic layer and a 3D topological insulator reveals a clear fingerprint of the Dirac point and exhibits additional features of the interfacial band structure not otherwise observable. The underlying spin-pumping mechanism is discussed in the framework of dissipation of angular momentum by topological surface states (TSSs). Tuning of the Fermi level within the TSS was verified both by varying the stoichiometry of the topological insulator layer and by electrostatic backgating and the damping values obtained in both cases show a remarkable agreement. The high energy resolution of this method additionally allows us to resolve the energetic shift of the local Dirac points generated by local variations of the electrostatic potential. Calculations based on the chiral tunneling process naturally occurring in TSS agree well with the experimental results.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Band energy diagrams of n-GaInP/n-AlInP(100) surfaces and heterointerfaces studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Lattice matched n-type AlInP(100) charge selective contacts are commonly grown on n-p GaInP(100) top absorbers in high-efficiency III-V multijunction solar or photoelectrochemical cells. The cell performance can be greatly limited by the electron selectivity and valance band offset at this heterointerface. Understanding of the atomic and electronic properties of the GaInP/AlInP heterointerface is crucial for the reduction of photocurrent losses in III-V multijunction devices. In our paper, we investigated chemical composition and electronic properties of n-GaInP/n-AlInP heterostructures by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). To mimic an in-situ interface experiment with in-situ stepwise deposition of the contact material, 1 nm - 50 nm thick n-AlInP(100) epitaxial layers were grown on n-GaInP(100) buffer layer on n-GaAs(100) substrates by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. We observed (2x2)/c(4x2) low-energy electron diffraction patterns with characteristic diffuse streaks along the [01-1] direction due to P-P dimers on both AlInP(100) and GaInP(100) as-prepared surfaces. Atomic composition analysis confirmed P-rich termination on both surfaces. Angle-resolved XPS measurements revealed a surface core level shift of 0.9 eV in P 2p peaks and the absence of interface core level shifts. We assigned the surface chemical shift in the P2p spectrum to P-P bonds on a surface. We found an upward surface band bending on the (2x2)/c(4x2) surfaces most probably caused by localized mid-gap electronic states. Pinning of the Fermi level by localized electronic states remained in n-GaInP/n-AlInP heterostructures. A valence band offset of 0.2 eV was derived by XPS and band alignment diagram models for the n-n junctions were suggested.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Highly superlinear photogalvanic effects in (Bi$_{0.3}$Sb$_{0.7}$)$_2$(Te$_{0.1}$Se$_{0.9}$)$_3$: Probing 3D topological insulator surface states at room temperature

We report on the observation of complex nonlinear intensity dependence of the circular and linear photogalvanic currents induced by infrared radiation in compensated (Bi$_{0.3}$Sb$_{0.7}$)$_2$(Te$_{0.1}$Se$_{0.9}$)$_3$ 3D topological insulators. The photocurrents are induced by direct optical transitions between topological surface and bulk states. We show that an increase of the radiation intensity results first in a highly superlinear raise of the amplitude of both types of photocurrents, whereas at higher intensities the photocurrent saturates. Our analysis of the observed nonlinearities shows that the superlinear behavior of the photocurrents is caused by a heating of the electron gas, while the saturation is induced by a slow relaxation of the photoexcited carriers resulting in absorbance bleaching. The observed nonlinearities give access to the Fermi level position with respect to the Dirac point and the energy relaxation times of Dirac fermions providing an experimental room temperature probe for topological surface states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗