SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Advanced Materials and Fabrication for Coherent Superconducting Qubits -IARPA Coherent Superconducting Qubits Program
- Notice Date
- 8/1/2008
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U. S. Army Materiel Command, RDECOM Acquisition Center - Research Triangle Park, RDECOM Acquisition Center - Research Triangle Park, ATTN: AMSSB-ACR, Research Triangle Park Contracting Division, P.O. Box 12211, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211
- ZIP Code
- 27709-2211
- Solicitation Number
- W911NF-08-R-0011
- Response Due
- 12/16/2008
- Archive Date
- 2/14/2009
- Point of Contact
- Travis Clemons, 919-549-4328
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Opportunity Description: A. Program Overview Innovative solutions are sought for the Coherent Superconducting Qubits Program within the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). The Program is envisioned to begin May 1, 2009 and end by June 1, 2014. The U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) and IARPA will conduct this BAA in close partnership. This BAA solicits proposals that will lead to substantially extended coherence times in superconducting qubits. Two Levels of proposals are sought, with particular interest in application to the phase qubit: Level I proposals will seek to accomplish all of the following Program Goals: (1) fundamental understanding and insights into defects in superconducting qubits that currently limit coherence time and readout contrast; (2) means to characterize, measure and definitively discriminate between these separate defects; and (3) advanced materials, constructions and fabrication methods to eliminate these defects. Level II proposals will seek to accomplish Level I goals as well as the following additional Program Goal: (4) demonstrate substantially extended coherence times in superconducting qubits fabricated from foregoing developments. With regard to developing fundamental understanding of superconducting qubit defects, there are several research topics of interest; including but not limited to: - The origin of defects in lossy materials leading to two-level-systems that couple to qubit state transitions; defects whose population for example is reflected by the characteristic splitting density observed in readout spectroscopy of the phase qubit. - The origin of 1/f noise (charge, current and flux noise) and associated electronic mechanisms affecting qubit performance as a function of temperature, but with emphasis on the operating conditions of the qubit. (e.g. for the phase qubit& 25 mK, low power, GHz &). -The role of interface and surface quality attributes including: -physical uniformity, smoothness and definition -chemical composition, cleanliness or contamination (stoichiometry, deleterious oxides, impurities&) -morphology (crystallinity, crystal orientation, grain size &) -stability of all of the above (e.g. a junction is considered unstable from which oxygen diffuses into adjacent layers, resulting in an evolution of stoichiometry and potentially crystallinity and thus electronic properties(e.g. dielectric loss tangent)) - The effects of coherence length mismatch between dissimilar top and bottom electrodes - Novel measurement techniques for isolating decoherence mechanisms and quantifying their relative contribution. - Defects that may be intrinsic to specific device architectures such as junction type (SIS, SNS, ScS (constriction or microbridge junctions) or SvS (vacuum junctions)), junction geometry, qubit geometry and layout. - The correlation between alternative materials metrics and qubit performance - The role overall qubit size and junction bias current plays, in combination with defects, in enhancing or reducing energy decay and phase coherence in different forms of qubits. For example, ultra small flux and transmon qubits (with ultra-small junctions) have demonstrated better coherence performance (T1 and T2) than larger flux and current-biased phase qubits (with larger junctions). - The role defects in junctions plays in contributing to energy loss when incorporated into different configurations of resonant circuits from coplanar waveguides to lumped-element resonators, challenging the notion of dissipationless Josephson junctions. - New concepts in decoherence mechanisms Any combination of the above and or additional topics may be included in a proposal. In general, for all topics pursued in developing fundamental understanding of superconducting qubit defects, proposals should focus on: a) developing a full understanding of the defect types, the mechanisms by which they occur, the mechanisms by which they affect the qubit, and the qubit performance characteristics they limit (coherence time, contrast, etc.), b) the means for definitive characterization and measurement of those defects in the presence of other defects, and subsequently c) the most effective means for their elimination. Note: proposals should also describe test platforms to be used in initial studies of decoherence mechanisms, materials screening and process development. Test platforms such as, but not limited to resonators and antennas should be proposed in appropriate detail, including physically descriptive drawings or photographs and electrical schematics. Details should be given on how the test platform will measure the desired materials properties and how, if possible, the platform can be used to equivalently reveal qubit performance metrics. The correlation between selected materials metrics and qubit performance should be unambiguously supported by a description of theoretical as well as experimental evidence. With regard to advanced materials and fabrication methods, there are several research topics of interest; including but not limited to: - Tunnel junctions of high physical, chemical, morphological, etc& quality and stability, as well as high critical current and critical current uniformity - Ultra low-loss dielectrics for insulators and junctions and characterization of detrimental effects of impurities and imperfections therein as a result of the fabrication process - Advanced electrode materials and or passivation layers to minimize 1/f noise from interfaces, electrode surfaces and wiring - Control of contamination from magnetic materials, such as iron - High purity materials for sputtering targets - Innovative qubit designs that may for example a) minimize or eliminate materials contributing to decoherence (e.g. through vacuum insulators, etc&), or b) circumvent deleterious mechanisms intrinsic to conventional geometries (e.g. through alternative geometries and or vacuum or normal metal or constriction barriers) - Fabrication techniques providing superior materials and reproducibility - Fabrication quality of electrodes, including the effects of rough edges - Chamber(s) characterization (e.g., temperature, gases, other materials in the chamber) for depositing films and oxidation for fabricating reproducible high quality qubits - New concepts in materials and fabrication techniques or qubit designs Any combination of the above and or additional topics may be included in a given proposal. In general, for all topics pursued in advanced materials and fabrication methods, proposals should focus on developing materials advances, fabrication techniques, and junction or qubit designs that will substantially eliminate decoherence mechanisms and significantly improve qubit performance.
- Web Link
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FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=831542b17c711f95b0c8bc7dd7c4cf35&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: RDECOM Acquisition Center - Research Triangle Park ATTN: AMSSB-ACR, Research Triangle Park Contracting Division, P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park NC
- Zip Code: 27709-2211
- Zip Code: 27709-2211
- Record
- SN01629594-W 20080803/080801223651-831542b17c711f95b0c8bc7dd7c4cf35 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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