Atomic-scale Investigation of the Nb/air Interface for Niobium Radio Frequency Cavity
ORAL
Abstract
Niobium radiofrequency cavities hold great promise to realize quantum computation, while the coherence time loss of quantum bit (qubit) by surface resistance, in particular oxides, impairs the system's lifetime. We present a comprehensive structural and chemistry study of the Nb/air interface from a niobium cavity using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spectroscopy techniques. The results directly prove that the oxidation process is oxygen diffusion-controlled, and the NbOx/Nb interface is related to the crystallographic orientation of the Nb metal. Moreover, we will discuss different surface protection methods during focus ion beam TEM sample preparation on the Nb oxide layer structure.
*This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, National Quantum Information Science Research Centers, Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) under the contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 and by Materials Science and Engineering Division through the Ames Laboratory. The Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358.
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Presenters
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Xiaotian Fang
- Ames Lab
- Ames Laboratory, Ames, IA, USA
- Ames Laboratory