RAISE: TAQS: Materials spectroscopy for next generation superconducting qubits

非技术描述：量子计算机可以执行超出当前经典计算机能力的计算，如果成功开发，将给科学、技术和商业的许多方面带来革命性的变化。目前，小型量子计算机的性能受到背景噪声干扰的限制，背景噪声阻碍了有用的计算。这种噪音可能是由于原型中使用的材料--为其他良好性能而选择的材料--的缺陷造成的，该项目的目标是发现哪些材料会引起噪音，以及如何改进或取代它们。这样做，这项研究不仅可以影响量子计算机；低噪声材料的开发也可能有助于创造更好的传感器和更灵敏的信号放大器。该项目还用于培养熟悉多个领域的新一代科学家，包括量子信息科学、实验凝聚态物理、材料生长和设备工程。这个项目包括一个项目，帮助学生在学术和工业实验室进行研究，特别是在纽约约克敦高地的IBM量子计算小组。这种培训对于发展一支能够引领未来量子信息科学和量子工程的劳动力队伍是必要的。技术描述：这项学术界和工业界之间的合作、跨学科研究工作汇集了材料科学、物理和电气工程方面的先进方法，以解决超导(SC)量子比特设备中长期存在的基本问题。尽管SC量子比特是量子计算的主要候选者之一，但它们的相干时间目前对于大多数应用来说是不够的。尽管在过去20年中在扩展量子比特相干性方面取得了重大进展，但损失和噪声的微观来源仍然普遍未知。该项目利用直接材料和表面光谱工具来确定最先进的SC量子比特设备中缺陷的化学和物理性质，并将这种表征与量子比特性能相关联，以发现作为退相干来源的缺陷。利用这些信息，研究小组设计了新的表面处理和制造技术，旨在消除这些缺陷，并将这些技术用于制造和测量新的原型量子比特。在这些知识的基础上，研究小组还探索了化学惰性、微波损耗低、可以以超高纯度生长作为量子比特衬底的替代材料系统。这项研究工作被构建为一个良性循环，在这个循环中，从基础材料光谱学获得的知识迅速转化为量子比特器件制造的进步，提供反馈以确定全新的材料系统和新的量子比特设计，利用理论支持开发新的方法来衡量量子比特性能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical description: Quantum computers can perform calculations that are beyond the capabilities of current classical computers and, if successfully developed, would revolutionize many aspects of science, technology, and commerce. The performance of present-day, small quantum computers is limited by interference from background noise that prevents useful computations from being done. This noise can arise from imperfections in the materials used in the prototypes - materials selected for other favorable properties - and the goal of this project is to discover which materials cause the noise, and how to improve or replace them. In doing so, this research could not only impact quantum computers; the development of low noise materials could also be useful in creating better sensors and more sensitive signal amplifiers. This project also serves to train a new generation of scientists who are conversant across several fields, including quantum information science, experimental condensed matter physics, materials growth, and device engineering. This project includes a program to help students perform research at both academic and industry labs, specifically at the IBM Quantum Computing group in Yorktown Heights, NY. This training is necessary for the development of a workforce that can spearhead future quantum information science and quantum engineering.Technical description: This collaborative, interdisciplinary research effort between academia and industry brings together advanced methods in materials science, physics and electrical engineering to solve long-standing, fundamental problems in superconducting (SC) qubit devices. Although SC qubits are one of the leading candidates for quantum computing, their coherence times are currently insufficient for most applications. Despite significant progress in extending qubit coherence over the last 20 years, the microscopic sources of loss and noise remain generally unknown. This project utilizes direct material and surface spectroscopy tools to determine the chemical and physical nature of defects in state-of-the-art SC qubit devices, and correlates that characterization with qubit performance to discover the defects that are the sources of the decoherence. Using this information, the research team devises new surface treatments and fabrication techniques aimed at removing those defects, and those techniques are employed to fabricate and measure new prototype qubits. Building on this knowledge, the research team also explores alternative materials systems that are chemically inert, display low microwave loss, and can be grown with ultrahigh purity as substrates for qubits. This research effort is structured as a virtuous cycle in which knowledge gained from fundamental materials spectroscopy is rapidly translated into advances in qubit device fabrication, providing feedback to identify entirely new materials systems and new qubit designs, using theoretical support to develop new methods for benchmarking qubit performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.