Terahertz spectroscopy for superconducting thin film quality control

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Quantum computing and superconducting electronics have the potential to revolutionize information technology in the coming decades, and D-Wave Systems Inc. is a Canadian company that is recognized internationally as one of the industry leaders. For more than 40 years the density of transistors in integrated circuits has doubled roughly every two years. Known as Moore's law, this remarkable growth in computing power is reaching fundamental limits. One alternative to traditional circuits is to utilize superconducting materials in place of semiconductors. While requiring that the circuits be cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero, these circuits can be designed to consume negligible energy, and admit the possibility of harnessing quantum mechanics for computation. To improve circuit performance, density, and total processor yield, a clear understanding of the circuit material properties is required. The proposed project will help build the infrastructure necessary to do this. We will assess the value of an optical technique, known as terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, as a tool for superconducting material quality control.