Dually tunable YBCO coplanar waveguide resonators based on helium-ion-generated Josephson inductances

Abstract

Superconducting microwave circuits with and without Josephson inductances are the Swiss Army knife for many experiments and technologies from quantum information science to astrophysical particle detectors. Despite a large variety of existing circuit types, thin film materials and Josephson junction technologies, a flexible and reliable platform for high-magnetic-field and high-temperature applications is yet to be found. In this manuscript, we investigate coplanar waveguide cavities made of the high-temperature cuprate superconductor YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_7$ (YBCO), integrated with Josephson inductances and quantum interferometers that are generated by the controlled local irradiation of the YBCO with a focused helium ion beam. We obtain strongly flux-tunable microwave resonators, which not only display periodic interferometer oscillations of resonance frequency and decay rate, but also a superimposed Fraunhofer-like modulation pattern. The latter originates from the magnetic field tuning of the individual Josephson junction critical currents due to the out-of-plane junction barriers. It allows adjusting resonance frequency and flux responsivity independently of each other, potentially enabling tunable microwave circuits with low sensitivity to external magnetic-field noise over a broad range of frequencies. Finally, we investigate the temperature dependence of the cavities, show that they have promising characteristics up to 14K, and present a model for the junction-induced cavity losses.