Piezoelectric loss of superconducting microwave resonators integrated with thin-film lithium niobate

Thin-film lithium niobate (LN) has become an enabling platform in the development of quantum integrated circuits, for applications including microwave-to-optical converters and electromechanical transducers. Incorporation of high-quality planar superconducting resonators will further elevate the performance of these devices. However, alongside the desired interactions originated from LN, its piezo-electric nature also introduces parasitic coupling between microwave and phononic modes, resulting in excessive dielectric loss. In this work, we investigate such coupling by studying niobium nitride resonators directly deposited on patterned LN thin films. By varying device configuration, we pinpoint that overlap-ping electric field with LN can inadvertently excite bulk acoustic modes within the substrate, inducing microwave loss independent of the acoustic dissipation rate. The experimental results are supported by simulation and theoretical modeling. Our approach can be applied to different piezoelectric systems and provide insights into the design of microwave components for quantum transduction devices.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigate the coupling between microwave and phononic modes in thin-film lithium niobate (LN) by studying niobium nitride resonators directly deposited on LN thin films. Our findings reveal that overlapping electric fields can inadvertently excite bulk acoustic modes within the substrate, inducing microwave loss. This research is of significance for the design of piezoelectric systems and microwave components for quantum transduction devices.