Evidence for interacting two-level systems from the 1/f noise of a superconducting resonator

2013/11/07 by Jonathan Burnett, J. Burnett, Lara Faoro +17 · 11 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Computer science #Condensed matter physics #Josephson effect #Microwave #Noise (video) #Optoelectronics #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Quantum tunnelling #Qubit #Resonator #Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices #Superconducting quantum computing #Superconductivity #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms5119

published as Nat. Commun. 5:4119 (2014) · 7 pages, 3 figures

arxiv created 2013/11/07 · openalex publication_date 2014/06/17 · arxiv updated 2014/06/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Here we find the increase in 1/f noise of superconducting resonators at low temperatures to be completely incompatible with the standard tunneling model (STM) of Two Level Systems (TLS), which has been used to describe low-frequency noise for over three decades. We revise the STM to include a significant TLS - TLS interaction. The new model is able to explain the temperature and power dependence of noise in our measurements, as well as recent studies of individual TLS lifetimes using superconducting qubits. The measurements were made possible by implementing an ultra-stable frequency-tracking technique used in atomic clocks and by producing a superconducting resonator insensitive to temperature fluctuations. The latter required an epitaxially grown Nb film with a Pt capping layer to minimize detrimental oxides at all interfaces.

Citations

• Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat of Noncrystalline Solids
• Tunneling states in amorphous solids
• Experimental evidence for a surface distribution of two-level systems in superconducting lithographed microwave resonators
• Anomalous low-temperature thermal properties of glasses and spin glasses
• Coulomb gap and low temperature conductivity of disordered systems
• Strong coupling of a single photon to a superconducting qubit using circuit quantum electrodynamics

Cited by

• Qubit Noise Spectroscopy for Non-Gaussian Dephasing Environments
• Natural frequency estimation using complex-frequency excitations
• Adaptive Deformation of Color Code in Square Lattices with Defects
• Suppressing Cavity Frequency Noise Using a Kerr Nonlinearity
• Stability of superconducting resonators: Motional narrowing and the role of Landau-Zener driving of two-level defects
• Environmental noise spectroscopy with qubits subjected to dynamical decoupling
• Interacting tunneling model for two-level systems in amorphous materials and its predictions for their dephasing and noise in superconducting microresonators
• Origin of mechanical and dielectric losses from two-level systems in amorphous silicon
• Majorana representation for dissipative spin systems
• Protecting solid-state spins from a strongly coupled environment
• Implementing and benchmarking dynamically corrected gates on superconducting devices using space curve quantum control

Related

• Analysis of high quality superconducting resonators: consequences for TLS properties in amorphous oxides
• Temperature Dependence of the Frequency and Noise of Superconducting Coplanar Waveguide Resonators
• Low- and High-Frequency Noise from Coherent Two-Level Systems
• Evidence for universal relationship between the measured 1/f permittivity noise and loss tangent created by tunneling atoms
• Experimental evidence for a surface distribution of two-level systems in superconducting lithographed microwave resonators