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Revealing the Origin and Nature of the Buried Metal‐Substrate Interface Layer in Ta/Sapphire Superconducting Films

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Titel: Revealing the Origin and Nature of the Buried Metal‐Substrate Interface Layer in Ta/Sapphire Superconducting Films
Autoren: Aswin k. Anbalagan, Rebecca Cummings, Chenyu Zhou, Junsik Mun, Vesna Stanic, Jean Jordan‐Sweet, Juntao Yao, Kim Kisslinger, Conan Weiland, Dmytro Nykypanchuk, Steven L. Hulbert, Qiang Li, Yimei Zhu, Mingzhao Liu, Peter V. Sushko, Andrew L. Walter, Andi M. Barbour
Quelle: Adv Sci (Weinh)
Advanced Science, Vol 12, Iss 17, Pp n/a-n/a (2025)
Publication Status: Preprint
Verlagsinformationen: Wiley, 2025.
Publikationsjahr: 2025
Schlagwörter: superconducting films, Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con), Condensed Matter - Materials Science, tantalum, Science, Condensed Matter - Superconductivity, synchrotron X‐ray reflectivity, Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), FOS: Physical sciences, HAADF‐STEM, density functional theory modeling, Research Article
Beschreibung: Despite constituting a smaller fraction of the qubit's electromagnetic mode, surfaces and interfaces can exert significant influence as sources of high‐loss tangents, which brings forward the need to reveal properties of these extended defects and identify routes to their control. Here, we examine the structure and composition of the metal‐substrate interfacial layer that exists in Ta/sapphire‐based superconducting films. Synchrotron‐based X‐ray reflectivity measurements of Ta films, commonly used in these qubits, reveal an unexplored interface layer at the metal‐substrate interface. Scanning transmission electron microscopy and core‐level electron energy loss spectroscopy identified an intermixing layer (≈0.65 ± 0.05 nm) at the metal‐substrate interface containing Al, O, and Ta atoms. Density functional theory modeling reveals that the structure and properties of the Ta/sapphire heterojunctions are determined by the oxygen content on the sapphire surface prior to Ta deposition for two atomic terminations of sapphire. Using a multimodal approach, we gained deeper insights into the interface layer between the metal and substrate, which suggests that the orientation of deposited Ta films depend on the surface termination of sapphire. The observed elemental intermixing at the metal‐substrate interface influences the thermodynamic stability and electronic behavior of the film, which may also affect qubit performance.
Publikationsart: Article
Other literature type
Sprache: English
ISSN: 2198-3844
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202413058
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2409.10780
Zugangs-URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39968930
http://arxiv.org/abs/2409.10780
https://doaj.org/article/1ce16343731b47aa90c80d4b34c1e1ca
Rights: CC BY
Dokumentencode: edsair.doi.dedup.....b58a3ee583a63f195a8b98c526b8d2ae
Datenbank: OpenAIRE
Beschreibung
Abstract:Despite constituting a smaller fraction of the qubit's electromagnetic mode, surfaces and interfaces can exert significant influence as sources of high‐loss tangents, which brings forward the need to reveal properties of these extended defects and identify routes to their control. Here, we examine the structure and composition of the metal‐substrate interfacial layer that exists in Ta/sapphire‐based superconducting films. Synchrotron‐based X‐ray reflectivity measurements of Ta films, commonly used in these qubits, reveal an unexplored interface layer at the metal‐substrate interface. Scanning transmission electron microscopy and core‐level electron energy loss spectroscopy identified an intermixing layer (≈0.65 ± 0.05 nm) at the metal‐substrate interface containing Al, O, and Ta atoms. Density functional theory modeling reveals that the structure and properties of the Ta/sapphire heterojunctions are determined by the oxygen content on the sapphire surface prior to Ta deposition for two atomic terminations of sapphire. Using a multimodal approach, we gained deeper insights into the interface layer between the metal and substrate, which suggests that the orientation of deposited Ta films depend on the surface termination of sapphire. The observed elemental intermixing at the metal‐substrate interface influences the thermodynamic stability and electronic behavior of the film, which may also affect qubit performance.
ISSN:21983844
DOI:10.1002/advs.202413058