A Broad Stopband and High Rejection HTS Lowpass Filter for Quantum Computers

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach for extending the upper stopband of lowpass filters. The proposed technique involves dividing the hairpin unit cells' coupled lines into multiple smaller components, which shifts the harmonics to higher frequencies while maintaining the cut-off frequency. Additionally, the stopband is further extended by modifying the tapping position to suppress the second harmonic. For demonstration, an improved dual-hairpin unit cell is devised, which is able to extend the stopband up to 11.3 times the cut-off frequency. Furthermore, a cascaded lowpass filter utilizing multiple improved dual-hairpin unit cells is also designed, which is divided into two sub-filters to suppress enclosure resonance. The cascaded filter is fabricated on an HTS (high-temperature superconducting) thin film deposited on a MgO substrate, demonstrating a cut-off frequency of 483 MHz, extending the stopband to 25.1 GHz (51.9 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">f_c</i> ), affording a rejection level exceeding 60 dB and insertion loss below 0.04 dB. Notably, the roll-off rate exceeds 569 dB/GHz, and the size measures only 0.144 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">λ_g</i> × 0.030 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">λ_g</i> .