Advanced (S)TEM Characterization for Superior Quantum Devices

NIST only participates in the February and August reviews.

Superconducting qubits are among the leading hardware platforms for quantum information processing, but the lack of sufficient qubit coherence remains a primary obstacle to achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing at a meaningful scale.1  We are examining a variety of constituent materials in superconducting quantum devices to correlate their quantum behavior, materials properties, and microfabrication processes.2 This collaborative project bridges the Advanced Microwave Photonics Group, who are experts in design, growth and measurement of state-of-the-art superconducting qubits, and the Quantitative Nanostructure Characterization Group, who are experts in (scanning) transmission electron microscopy ((S)TEM) characterization of materials. 

Our aberration corrected (S)TEM tool is equipped with a variety of detectors (HAADF, BF, ABF, XEDS, EELS) as well as holography and tomography capability.  Also available are focused ion beam – scanning electron microscopes (FIB-SEMs), atom probe tomography instruments (APT) and a high-flux, high-energy-resolution X-ray diffractometer (XRD). 

Experience in STEM/TEM imaging and analysis is preferred.

1. Siddiqi, Irfan,"Engineering High-Coherence Superconducting Qubits" Nat. Rev. Matls. 6, pages875–891 (2021).

2. McFadden, Anthony et al., "Interface-sensitive microwave loss in supconducting tantalum films sputtered on c-plane sapphire" Phys. Rev. Matls. 9, 096201 (2025).

TEM; STEM; Quantum Information; Semiconductors; Superconductors; Josephson Junctions; Qubits