Niobium Titanium Nitride Films Research Articles

Kinetic Inductance Traveling Wave Amplifier Designs for Practical Microwave Readout Applications

A Kinetic Inductance Traveling Wave Amplifier (KIT) utilizes the nonlinear kinetic inductance of superconducting films, particularly niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), for parametric amplification. These amplifiers achieve remarkable performance in terms of gain, bandwidth, and compression power and frequently approach the quantum limit for noise. However, most KIT demonstrations have been isolated from practical device readout systems. Using a KIT as the first amplifier in the readout chain of an unoptimized microwave SQUID multiplexer coupled to a transition-edge sensor microcalorimeter, we see an initial improvement in the flux noise [1]. One challenge in KIT integration is the considerable microwave pump power required to drive the non-linearity. To address this, we have initiated efforts to reduce the pump power by using thinner NbTiN films and an inverted microstrip transmission line design. In this article, we present the new transmission line design, fabrication procedure, and initial device characterization—including gain and added noise. These devices exhibit over 10 dB of gain with a 3 dB bandwidth of approximately 5.5–7.25 GHz, a maximum practical gain of 12 dB, and typical gain ripple under 4 dB peak to peak. We observe an appreciable impedance mismatch in the NbTiN transmission line, which is likely the source of the majority of the gain ripple. Finally, we perform an initial noise characterization and demonstrate system-added noise of three quanta or less over nearly the entire 3 dB bandwidth.

Disorder-induced 2D superconductivity in a NbTiN film grown on Si by ultrahigh-vacuum magneton sputtering

We report on the growth and characterization of a niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) film on a Si substrate prepared by ultrahigh vacuum sputtering. We show that the superconducting transition temperature is lower than those of high-quality NbTiN films. Interestingly, even though the zero-temperature Ginzburg-Landau coherence length (=9.77 nm) is significantly shorter than the film thickness (=86 nm), we are still able to observe the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless-like transition, indicating the two-dimensional (2D) signature of our three-dimensional (3D) sample. We propose that the mechanism of hidden 2D superconducting property is similar to the recently reported results of the disordered induced 3D to 2D superconductor transition. We suggest further theoretical work is required for studying our new experimental results.

Frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonators via wireless control of nonlinear kinetic inductance

Frequency-tunable microwave resonators are in great demand especially in hybrid systems where precise frequency alignment of resonances is required. Here, we present frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonators fabricated from thin niobium nitride and niobium titanium nitride films. The resonant frequency is tuned by applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the hole structures in the resonator's inductor wire, whose kinetic inductance is modified by wirelessly induced DC supercurrents. A continuous in situ frequency tuning of over 300 MHz is achieved for a 10 GHz resonator with a moderate magnetic field of 1.2 mT. The planar resonator design and the noncontact tuning scheme greatly ease the fabrication complexity and can be widely applied in many hybrid systems for coupling microwave modes with other forms of excitations such as optical photons, phonons, magnons, and spins.

Reactive Magnetron Sputter Deposition of Superconducting Niobium Titanium Nitride Thin Films With Different Target Sizes

The superconducting critical temperature (Tc > 15K) of niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) thin films allows for low-loss circuits up to 1.1 THz, enabling on-chip spectroscopy and multi-pixel imaging with advanced detectors. The drive for large scale detector microchips is demanding NbTiN films with uniform properties over an increasingly larger area. This article provides an experimental comparison between two reactive d.c. sputter systems with different target sizes: a small target (100mm diameter) and a large target (127 mm x 444.5 mm). This article focuses on maximizing the Tc of the films and the accompanying I-V characteristics of the sputter plasma, and we find that both systems are capable of depositing films with Tc > 15 K. The resulting film uniformity is presented in a second manuscript in this volume. We find that these films are deposited within the transition from metallic to compound sputtering, at the point where target nitridation most strongly depends on nitrogen flow. Key in the deposition optimization is to increase the system's pumping speed and gas flows to counteract the hysteretic effects induced by the target size. Using the I-V characteristics as a guide proves to be an effective way to optimize a reactive sputter system, for it can show whether the optimal deposition regime is hysteresis-free and accessible.

Duality picture of Superconductor-insulator transitions on Superconducting nanowire.

In this study, we investigated the electrical transport properties of niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) nanowire with four-terminal geometries to clarify the superconducting phase slip phenomena and superconducting-insulator transitions (SIT) for one-dimensional superconductors. We fabricated various nanowires with different widths and lengths from epitaxial NbTiN films using the electron beam lithography method. The temperature dependence of resistance R(T) below the superconducting transition temperature Tc was analyzed using thermal activation phase slip (TAPS) and quantum phase slip (QPS) theories. Although the accuracy of experimental data at low temperatures can deviate when using the TAPS model, the QPS model thoroughly represents the R(T) characteristic with resistive tail at low temperatures. From the analyses of data on Tc, we found that NbTiN nanowires exhibit SIT because of the change in the ratio of kinetic inductance energy and QPS amplitude energy with respect to the flux-charge duality theory.

Frequency-tunable superconducting resonators via nonlinear kinetic inductance

We have designed, fabricated, and tested a frequency-tunable high-Q superconducting resonator made from a niobium titanium nitride film. The frequency tunability is achieved by injecting a DC through a current-directing circuit into the nonlinear inductor whose kinetic inductance is current-dependent. We have demonstrated continuous tuning of the resonance frequency in a 180 MHz frequency range around 4.5 GHz while maintaining the high internal quality factor Qi > 180 000. This device may serve as a tunable filter and find applications in superconducting quantum computing and measurement. It also provides a useful tool to study the nonlinear response of a superconductor. In addition, it may be developed into techniques for measurement of the complex impedance of a superconductor at its transition temperature and for readout of transition-edge sensors.

Characterization of NbTiN Thin Films Deposited on Various Substrates

Niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) thin films were deposited on a selection of different substrates to explore the optimum depositing condition of high-quality NbTiN thin films. The NbTiN films deposited on MgO, Al2O3, and fused quartz substrates showed excellent superconducting properties with a high TC of 14.7 K, 14.5 K, 15.2 K, and low resistivity ρ20 K of 55 μΩcm, 116 μΩcm, 78 μΩcm, respectively. The chemical composition, crystal structure, and relationship between superconducting properties and crystal structure were systematically investigated by changing the N2/(Ar+N2) ratio in sputtering gases. The lattice parameter systematically changed as N2/(Ar+N2) ratio was varied. We found that the superconducting properties depend on the lattice parameter, and the film with the best superconducting properties had a lattice parameter of 4.380 A (on MgO), 4.345 A (on Al2O3), 4.335 A (on fused quartz).

Development of 1.5 THz waveguide NbTiN superconducting hot electron bolometermixers

We present a characterization of a 1.5 THz waveguide niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN)superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer which can be pumped by acommercial solid state tunable local oscillator (LO) source. The NbTiN HEB mixer is madefrom a 12 nm thick NbTiN thin film deposited on a quartz substrate at room temperature.A gold electrode is formed in situ on the NbTiN thin film without breaking vacuum toensure good contact. The uncorrected DSB receiver noise temperature is measured to be1700 K at 1.5 THz, whereas the mixer noise temperature is derived to be 1000 K aftercorrections for losses of the input optics and the intermediate frequency (IF) amplifierchain. The required LO power absorbed in the HEB mixer is evaluated to be340 nW by using an isothermal technique. The IF gain bandwidth is supposed to beabout 1.3 GHz or higher. The present results show that good performance can beobtained at 1.5 THz even with a relatively thick NbTiN film (12 nm), as in the case of0.8 THz. In order to investigate the cooling mechanism of our HEB mixers, wehave conducted performance measurements for a few HEB mixers with differentmicrobridge sizes both at 1.5 and 0.8 THz. The noise performance of the NbTiNHEB mixers is found to depend on the length of the NbTiN microbridge. Theshorter the microbridge is, the lower the receiver noise temperature is. This mayimply a contribution of the diffusion cooling in addition to the phonon cooling.

Development of THz Waveguide NbTiN HEB Mixers

In this paper, we present the development of the waveguide niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, cryogenically cooled by a 4 K close-cycled refrigerator. The NbTiN thin film is formed on a crystalline quartz substrate by sputtering an NbTi target with the Ar and N2 gas at room temperature. The HEB mixer element is fabricated by using the 12 nm NbTiN film, and is mounted on a waveguide block. Measurement of a Fourier transform spectrometer shows that the response of the mixer is centered near 810 GHz with a bandwidth of about 500 GHz. The uncorrected DSB receiver noise temperature is measured to be 500 K, and the noise bandwidth is to be 1.4 GHz at 810 GHz. The present result shows that a good noise performance can be obtained for the NbTiN HEB mixer even with a relatively thick film (12 nm) fabricated at the room temperature.