Eric Li Rose Hills
Acoustic Bandgaps for Improved Quantum Memory Coherence
Quantum computing is a new paradigm that could revolutionize how we process information. For these applications, it is critical that the systems can maintain quantum coherence for long periods of time. In this project, we will investigate new acoustic designs to extend quantum coherence in superconducting quantum qubits and nanomechanical resonators. At low temperatures where quantum devices operate, the dominant energy loss in acoustic and superconducting resonators occurs due to coupling to two-level-system defects. The goal of our research will be to engineer a platform that can be used to study these defects. Because proper shielding is critical to keep a quantum system isolated from its environment, a challenge will be to design a shielding system with a bandgap that blocks acoustic waves from escaping into the environment at our frequencies of interest. We will use an acoustic metamaterial-based design, which will be a periodic arrangement of unit cells engineered to exhibit custom frequency behavior. Our research will also entail designing the electronic resonator circuitry to conduct TLS measurements. The readouts that our experimental setup is designed to generate will aim to provide evidence supporting current proposed TLS damping models and give future guidance on how such damping can be avoided.
Message To Sponsor
I would like to thank SURF and the Rose Hills Foundation for giving me the financial support to pursue this project. The Rose Hills Experience fellowship has given me a chance to explore how the succinct quantum theory that I've learned in my classes can be leveraged in the real-world for computing applications. The research experience that Rose Hills is funding is crucial to my future research in quantum engineering.