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Helium atom scattering and density-functional theory (DFT) are used to characterize the phonon band structure of the (3 × 1)-O surface reconstruction of Nb(100). Innovative DFT calculations comparing surface phonons of bare Nb(100) to those of the oxide surface show increased resonances for the oxide, especially at higher energies. Calculated dispersion curves align well with experimental results and yield atomic displacements to characterize polarizations. Inelastic helium time-of-flight measurements show phonons with mixed longitudinal and shear-vertical displacements along both the ⟨[Formula: see text]⟩, [Formula: see text] and ⟨[Formula: see text]⟩, [Formula: see text] symmetry axes over the entire first surface Brillouin zone. Force constants calculated for bulk Nb, Nb(100), and the (3 × 1)-O Nb(100) reconstruction indicate much stronger responses from the oxide surface, particularly for the top few layers of niobium and oxygen atoms. Many of the strengthened bonds at the surface create the characteristic ladder structure, which passivates and stabilizes the surface. These results represent, to our knowledge, the first phonon dispersion data for the oxide surface and the first ab initio calculation of the oxide’s surface phonons. This study supplies critical information for the further development of advanced materials for superconducting radiofrequency cavities.
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Nitrogen plasma passivated niobium resonators for superconducting quantum circuits
Microwave loss in niobium metallic structures used for superconducting quantum circuits is limited by a native surface oxide layer formed over a timescale of minutes when exposed to an ambient environment. In this work, we show that nitrogen plasma treatment forms a niobium nitride layer at the metal–air interface, which prevents such oxidation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the doping of nitrogen more than 5 nm into the surface and a suppressed oxygen presence. This passivation remains stable after aging for 15 days in an ambient environment. Cryogenic microwave characterization shows an average filling-factor-adjusted two-level-system loss tangent [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] for resonators with a 3 [Formula: see text]m center strip and [Formula: see text] for a 20 [Formula: see text]m center strip, exceeding the performance of unpassivated samples by a factor of four.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1752844
- PAR ID:
- 10363771
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Institute of Physics
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Volume:
- 120
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 0003-6951
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- Article No. 102601
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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