Quantum
Quantum Materials

Advances in quantum materials are critical to unlocking the next leap in performance of quantum devices. Oxford Instruments offer world-leading solutions for novel materials and device fabrication and characterisation.  Our solutions have been developed to meet the overarching requirements for atomic purity, stoichiometric accuracy, surface and interface smoothness and minimisation of spurious two-level systems. Chip packaging and bonding is a crucial aspect of system integration made challenging by the high bandwidth of signals used and the need to pass signals on- and off-chip, to and from superconducting devices without loss of phase coherence.

There are several approaches and materials platforms to achieve highly scalable quantum circuits. Superconducting quantum circuits and trapped ion approaches are a couple of the leading technologies to real-world applications. There are, however, several technical challenges in scaling either trapped ion or superconducting quantum computers which has led to exploration of a wide variety of other approaches for creating qubits like photonic quantum computing using integrated photonics approaches, high-temperature qubits such as diamond NV centres, semiconductor-based spin qubits, exotic topologically protected qubits or Hybrid approaches taking advantage of all these elements. These technologies are slightly lower on the technology readiness scale but rapidly evolving with new and improved developments every day.

Materials Processing for Quantum Device Fabrication

Candidate devices have been developed using both superconducting, semiconducting, and wide bandgap materials. In the longer-term useful devices are likely to be hybrid structures requiring complex fabrication. Oxford Instruments offer state-of-the-art process solutions for the fabrication of key quantum device components across various platforms:

  • Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)
    • Superconducting materials for Qubits, Quantum Circuits, Microwave resonators, and single-photon detectors, such as NbN and TiN and more
    • Dielectrics (such as Al2O3, AlN and TaN) for tunnel barriers in Josephson Junctions
    • Al2O3 as a passivation layer for the fabrication of optical components in diamond (microcavities, nanobeams, waveguides etc)
  • Superconducting metal etching, e.g. Nb, Ta, Al, TiN
  • PECVD and ICP CVD
    • of SiNx with low hydrogen content for low-loss waveguides
    • SiNx used as a hard mask for diamond structuring
  • Smooth sidewall etching via Bosch or cryo etch of SiNx, InP and GaAs for integrated photonic components in optical quantum technologies
  • Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) for smooth, low damage diamond thinning with O termination to further protect NV centres.
  • Deep Si Etch for TSV to enable 3D integration of Quantum circuits

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WEBINAR Challenges and solutions for device fabrication and characterisation

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New Quantum Materials Fabrication & Characterisation

New classes of materials have emerged in recent years with unique and often surprising properties. Examples include 2D materials, heavy fermion materials, and the edge conduction states in topological insulators and nanowires. Our solutions enable the fabrication and characterisation of these novel materials.

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Challenges and solutions for device fabrication and characterisation

This webinar provides an overview of device fabrication and characterisation challenges and solutions for applications in Quantum Technology like Quantum computing, communications and sensing.  Three aspects of device development for superconducting qubits and quantum circuits will be addressed:

  • Plasma-enhanced ALD of superconductive thin films with RF substrate biasing
  • Plasma etching of superconducting materials
  • Qubit characterisation and measurement in cryogenic systems.
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Correlative microscopy: challenges and solutions for data acquisition and analysis

This tutorial will outline methods for developing correlative workflows across a variety of different samples types, from life science specimens to materials such as semi-conductors and duplex steel. We will also demonstrate how Relate can be used to analyse correlative data and the type of information you can obtain about your samples.

It will also address the two main challenges for analytical correlative microscopy research: acquiring data from the same region on a sample using different types of microscopes, and correlating the data once collected.

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