1 Theory

This thesis studies the impact of different cleaning methods on the quality of two-
dimensional (2D) superconducting waveguide resonators. Therefore, this chapter gives
a short introduction to these devices and to mechanisms which inuence their quality.
Section 1.1 describes the wave propagation on coplanar 2D structures and the formation
of standing waves. In section 1.2 we derive the transmission signal as well as the quality
of a resonator. Section 1.3 introduces loss mechanisms that inuence the resonators
quality factor.
1.1 Coplanar 2D-waveguide structures
Electromagnetic waves can propagate unimpeded in free space. However, for technical
applications it is important to direct such waves from a certain starting point to a par-
ticular destination. One solution for this issue is to use waveguides like 2D-coplanar
structures, which can be thought of as a cut through a coaxial cable [1]. A schematic of
such a structure is shown in g. 1.2 (a).
1.1.1 Wave propagation along a transmission line

Ldz
dz

Gdz

C dz

Rdz
v(z, t)
i(z+dz, t)
+

Abbildung 1.1 Lumped element

model of a transmission line of inni-
tesimal length dz with electrical com-
ponents per unit length.
In microwave theory the classical assumption of the
wavelength being substantially larger than the circuit
itself does no longer hold. Therefore, for a transmissi-
on line (TL) voltage and current are no longer inde-
pendent of z. The following results are based on and
elaborated in [2].
Figure 1.1 shows the equivalent lumped-element
circuit for a TL of innitesimal length dz. Here the
electrical components are the series inductance per
unit length L due to the total self-inductance of the the
two conductors, the series resistance per unit length R
and shunt conductance per unit length G, and R and
the shunt capacitance per unit length C.
1
R. N. SI MONS. Coplanar Waveguide Circuits, Components, and Systems. Wiley Series in Microwave and
Optical Engineering Wiley, 2004.
2
D. M. POZAR. Microwave Engineering. 2. ed. Wiley, 2011.
1
1 Theory
Further applying Kirchoffs laws and taking the limit dz 0 leads to the telegrapher
equations. When solving these for a sinusodial steady-state condition, wave equations for
the voltage v(z, t) =V (z) e
t
and the current i(z, t) =I(t) e
t
with being the radiant
frequency are obtained. These are solved by:
V (z) = V
+
0
e
z
+V

0
e
z
(1.1a)
I(z) = I
+
0
e
z
+I

0
e
z
, (1.1b)
where e
z
represents wave propagation in its respective direction. The complex propa-
gation constant is given by
= + =
_
(R +L)(G+C). (1.2)
The real part is called the attenuation constant, whereas the imaginary part is called
the propagation constant.
With eqs. 1.1 the characteristic impedance, dened as
Z
0
=
V
+
0
I
+
0
=
V

0
I

0
=

R +L
G+C
, (1.3)
is a specic quantity of transmission lines and describes a complex resistance. With the
frequency f =2 we nd that the wavelength on the line is
=
2

, (1.4)
and the phase velocity is
v
p
=

= f. (1.5)
1.1.2 Lossless CPW
A coplanar waveguides (CPW) shown in g. 1.2 (a) is a planar transmission line, which
consists of a substrate with two ground planes on top, left and right to a center conductor.
They are of special use for active circuitry because of many reasons, like the low loss
due to close proximity between center conductor and ground planes, or their comparably
simple yet small-scale fabrication. As we deal with superconducting CPW transmission
lines, R and G can most of the time be neglected which renders =0 and simplies
eq. (1.3) to a real quantity of
Z
0
=

, (1.6)
with L

and C

being dependent on the geometry of the CPW [3]. Although Z

0
is now
real, it must not be taken as a series resistance; instead an electromagnetic wave seen in
3
M. GPPL M. EPPL u. a. Coplanar waveguide resonators for circuit quantum electrodynamics. Journal of
Applied Physics, 104: 113904, 2008. DOI: 10.1063/1.3010859
2
1.1 Coplanar 2D-waveguide structures
a) b)

k
|

E|

k
|

E|

2
C

r
e
s
o
n
a
t
o
r
c
o
u
p
l
i
n
g
Abbildung 1.2 (a) Cross-section of coplanar waveguide on substrate
r
. The red sinusodial curve
is the electromagnetic wave travelling through the transmission line. At the front cut, the electric
eld

E is shown in black. (b) TL resonator at resonance frequency. The green curve represents the
standing wave of length

/2 with a much higher amplitude than the in- and outcoming wave. The TL
is colored here acc. to the legend.
g. 1.2 (a) can in these terms travel unimpeded through our CPW. The phase velocity is
now
v
p
=
1

. (1.7)
For a lossless medium, applying the Maxwell equations to the boundary conditions of a
plane wave we nd
v
p
=
c

e
(1.8)
Here
e
is a function dependent on waveguide geometry and the dielectric constant of
the substrate.
1.1.3 Formation of standing waves on a transmission line
A CPW TL resonator is a distributed device with voltages and currents varying in magni-
tude and phase over its length. With a look at g. 1.2 (b), its concept can be understood
as a trapped electromagnetic wave inside the (green) cavity potential, which causes it
only to interfere constructively if its wavelength is equal to
n
=n

/2, forming a standing

wave. With eqs. (1.5) and (1.8) we therefore nd the dependency
f
n
() =
v
p

n
= n
c

e
1
2
n = 1, 2, . . . , (1.9)
which, with eq. (1.7), results in the main mode
f
0
=
f
n
n
=
1

1
2
. (1.10)
It must not be mistaken that
e
, L

, and C

are characteristic quantities of the TL and

not of the resonator.
3
1 Theory
1.2 Transmission through a 2D-resonator
1.2.1 Transmission amplitude and Lorentz function
C

/2
C

1
V

2
Z
0
V
+
1
V
+
2
Z
0
Abbildung 1.3 Schematic of the given two
port network.
For this thesis, the setup of a capacitively
coupled open-circuit

/2 resonator was cho-
sen. In terms of network analysis, this setup
is a two port network, which can be descri-
bed with a scattering matrix
_
V

1
V

2
_
=
_
S
11
S
12
S
21
S
22
__
V
+
1
V
+
2
_
. (1.11)
Here each element S
ij
describes a scattering parameter. For this setup, no signal arrives
at the output line, which causes
S
21
=
V

2
V
+
1

V
+
2
=0
, (1.12)
to be equivalent to the transmission coefcient T of the network. This is the measu-
red quantity in our experiments. However, because of the typically large range of this
parameter, it is common to describe it dB:
S
21
(dB) = 20 log
10
(|S
21
|). (1.13)
Close to its resonance frequency f
0
the transmission through a TL resonator can be
described by a Lorentz function
F
L
(f) =
2A

w
4(f f
0
)
2
+w
2
, (1.14)
where A is the area under the curve and the bandwidth w the full width at half maximum.
Figure 1.4 (a) shows the shape of this function on a logarithmic (dB) scale along with
some characteristic quantities. The peak bandwidth w is dened as an amplitude loss of
1
/2 3 dB, whereas the total distance L
0
of the peak maximum to the 0 dB Level is called
insertion loss. An ideal, uncoupled resonator cannot receive any signal, i.e. L
0
=() dB,
while an innitely high coupled resonator is equivalent to a TL, which has no loss, i.e.
L
0
=0 dB.
1.2.2 Quality factor
One key gure to characterize resonant systems is the so called quality factor
Q = 2
average energy stored
energy loss/cycle
=
f
0
w
, (1.15)
4
1.2 Transmission through a 2D-resonator
3 dB
w=f
2
f
1
a)
0 dB
L
0
b)
f
0
f
0
f
1
f
2
S
2
1
f[Hz]
c)
Coupling capacitance C

C
2

Q
int
0
Q
L
L
0
0.1 1 10
undercoupled overcoupled
Z
0
Z
0
R
int
C
L
C

r
e
s
o
n
a
t
o
r
c
o
u
p
l
i
n
g
Abbildung 1.4 (a) Lorentz function. Shown is the transmission spectrum S
21
of a Resonator
close to its resonance frequency in decibels (dB). (b) Equivalent circuit representation of a capacitively
coupled resonator close to its resonance frequency. (c) Loaded quality factor and insertion loss L
0
versus logarithmic coupling capacitance with dashed approximations for each region.
which, for our concerns, is the most important value to characterize a resonator. The
inuences on its magnitude will be part of discussion in the next subsections. A circuit
QED element with the purpose to store single photon has to have a quality factor as high
as 30 000 for our needs. For an ideal resonator as in section 1.1.3, Q would be innitely
large. In reality, there are two loss channels which are relevant in our case. First, the
internal one caused by dissipative losses which will be discussed later. The second loss
channel is due to the necessity of external coupling, which enables the control of the
resonator. The total loaded quality factor can be described as
1
Q
L
=
1
Q
int
+
1
Q
ext
, (1.16)
where Q
int
stands for the internal, and Q
ext
for the external quality factor.
1.2.3 External coupling
Close to its resonance frequency, a resonator as described in section 1.1.3 with external
coupling similar to g. 1.2 (b) can be modelled as a parallel LCR oscillator, as shown
in [3]. Using eq. (1.10), and the denition f
0
=
1
/

LC of the resonance frequency of a

LC oscillator we conventionally dene L :=
2L

/
2
and C :=
C

/2. The denition of the

quality factor of a parallel LCR circuit is
Q = 2f
0
R
tot
C
tot
. (1.17)
5
1 Theory
With the Norton equivalent of the circuit shown in g. 1.4 (b) and R
int
= 0, we get
R
tot
= R
ext
=
1 + (2f
0
C

Z
0
)
2
(2f
0
C

Z
0
)
2
, (1.18)
and C
tot
C.
3
Therefore, the external quality factor is
Q
ext
= 2f
0
R
ext
C =

4Z
0
1 + 4
2
f
2
0
C
2

Z
2
0
4
2
f
2
0
C
2

Z
2
0

1
16f
2
0
Z
2
0
C
2

, (1.19)
where we used eq. (1.6). Now the coupling capacitance C

introduced in eq. (1.18) is

the only unknown variable needed to calculate Q
ext
. As it can be seen in g. 1.4 (c),
Q
L
(C

) can be divided into two sections. We can approximate them as follows.

Q
L

_
Q
int
= const. Q
ext
Q
int
(undercoupled)
Q
ext
C
2

Q
ext
Q
int
(overcoupled)
(1.20)
Therefore, to achieve a high value of Q
L
we have to increase Q
int
, as it sets the upper
limit and is not dependent on C

. With the extracted value of Q

int
, we can obtain C

from eq. (1.16). Also, with a look at g. 1.4 (c) it is desirable to keep C

as large as
possible while staying in the undercoupled region to reduce insertion loss, which is given
by
L
0
(C

) = 20 log
_
S
21
(f
0
)
_
dB = 20 log
_
Q
int
Q
int
+Q
ext
_
dB, (1.21)
with the use of eq. (1.12); see [2, S. 306]. The limits of 1.21 are in agreement with the
thoughts at the end of section 1.2.1. C

is a design parameter which is hard to calculate,

therefore a series of resonators with varying gap width was produced, and their coupling
rate measured. Furthermore, with the values of Q
L
and L
0
the internal quality factor can
be determined even for overcoupled resonators.
1.2.4 Kinetic Inductance
Basically, we want Q
ext
to be completely controllable by geometry. This seems to be valid
due to its dependance on L

, C

and C

. However, for superconductors with London

penetration depth
L
, we have to add the temperature dependent kinetic inductance
L

L
m

= L
k

2
L
(T)

2
L
(0)
1
_
T
T
c
_
2
, (1.22)
which is, however, for our setup (T < 4 K, T
c,Nb
9.2 K) neglegible acc. to [Watanabe1994].
1.3 Loss mechanisms of a 2D resonator
With the results from section 1.2.3 we know where to settle C

with a given limiting Q

int
.
Therefore we can now concentrate on determining the controlling inuences of Q
int
. The
6
1.3 Loss mechanisms of a 2D resonator
thoughts in the previous sections are based on two deliberate simplications made in
section 1.1.2. First, we neglected series resistance and shunt conductance per unit length,
R and G. Second, dielectric losses due to the substrate material
r
were neglected. These
assumptions caused the attenuation constant to be =0 and ultimately the characteristic
impedance Z
0
to be real. In this section, we will re-introduce these effects to our so far
considerations, and lastly include them in our results to obtain a complete overview of
Q
int
. Lastly, the inuences on Q
int
are weighed, leading to a substrate choice of sapphire.
First we will show that eq. (1.16) is indeed valid, as the external and internal inu-
ences are indepedent.
1.3.1 Low-loss TL
Along with the assumption of low transmission line losses in [2, S. 79], the complex
propagation constant can be approximated as a rst-order taylor expansion

LC
_
1

2
_
R

+
G

__
, (1.23)
which leads to
Z
0

, (1.24a)

_
L

, (1.24b)
and, nally

1
2
_
R

Z
0
+G

Z
0
_
, (1.24c)
which is the only quantity that has changed since the others are equivalent to their
lossless values , cmp. eq. (1.6). Therefore the calculations in section 1.2.3 are still valid.
Acc. to [2, S. 283], by comparison of their approximated impedances near resonance,
an open-circuit

/2 resonator with internal losses also behaves as a parallel LCR circuit,
see the green part of g. 1.4 b. with its resistance
R
int
=
Z
0

(1.25)
we get an internal quality factor of
Q
int
= 2f
0
R
int
C =

2
, (1.26)
which for a constant length is solely dependent on , in agreement with eq. (1.20). The
attenuation constant is a sum of different inuences, which causes
=

i

i
=
1
Q
int
=

i
1
Q
i
. (1.27)
7
1 Theory
d
x
h
w
a
s
f
H=0

e
Abbildung 1.5 (a) Cross-section of coplanar waveguide on substrate
r
with focus on its geome-
trical aspects.
Now, both LCR
ext
and LCR
int
circuit, as highlighted in g. 1.4 (b) act as one with a
parallel combination of their resistances, concluding as stated in a loaded quality factor
of
1
Q
L
=
1
Q
int
+
1
Q
ext
. (1.16)
1.3.2 Loss due to dielectric conductivity
As the resistivity of our chosen substrate is even at roomtemperature as high as R
G
=10
16
,
it clearly does no inuence, as
R
G

1

G
Q
G
Q
int
. (1.28)
As from g. 1.1, R
G
clearly belongs to G

, but it must not be identied with it. G

also originates from the dielectric losses, which cause the real capacitance between the
transmission line and the ground planes to be a series combination of an ideal capacitance
and a resistance. This effect will be part of discussion in ??.
Obacht:
tan =

eigentlich steckt das in der dielectric tangent. Braucht also vllt keine Section - s. [1,
S. 431].
1.3.3 Conductor loss in transmission lines
a) Conducting CPW
According to [1], a good approximation for the attenuation constant from conductor
losses is
8
1.3 Loss mechanisms of a 2D resonator
a (1.29)
with substrate thickness d and a geometric parameter A(
w
/d). As a rst approximation,
we can neglect the conductor thickness, which leads to

e
=
C
tot
C
0
=
C
0
(
r
+ 1)
2C
0
=

r
+ 1
2
. (1.30)
9