Probing the Role of Low Temperature Vacuum Baking on Photon Lifetimes in Superconducting Niobium 3-D Resonators

We discuss a potentially dramatic source of quantum decoherence in three-dimensional niobium superconducting resonators and in two-dimensional transmon qubits that utilize oxidized niobium: an aggravation of two-level system (TLS) induced losses driven by vacuum baking at temperatures and durations typically used in transmon qubit fabrication. By coupling RF measurements on cavities with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry studies on an SRF cavity cutout, we find that modest vacuum baking (150-200 C for 5 min-11 hrs) produces a partially depleted native niobium oxide which likely contains a large concentration of oxygen vacancies that drive TLS losses. Continued baking is found to eliminate this depleted layer and mediate these additional losses.