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Access to University of Chicago’s Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility enables quantum research

SQMS Center researchers are using the Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility at the University of Chicago to fabricate superconducting quantum devices with different materials and processes

A gourmet chef can’t prepare a delicious dish without the proper kitchen space, cutlery or fresh ingredients. Like meticulous chefs who analyze how each ingredient in the cooking process contributes to a dish’s flavor, quantum computing researchers follow a similar method to fabricate high-quality superconducting quantum devices.  

Researchers from the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, are disentangling the architecture of quantum devices and studying each material to see how they affect the devices’ performance. 

To achieve their goal, SQMS Center researchers are using the Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility at the University of Chicago. It’s a state-of-the-art user facility where researchers can fabricate superconducting quantum devices with different materials and processes.

“This is a great example of collaboration between the university and Fermilab with outstanding results,” said Juan de Pablo, University of Chicago executive vice president for science, innovation, national laboratories and global initiatives. “Fermilab’s scientists needed a state-of-the-art nanofabrication facility to advance their research, and they were able to conveniently access it through the university. Working together, we can scale projects like this one and answer questions in a field of vital importance.”

Turning access into results

Evaluating the performance of quantum devices will guide SQMS Center researchers toward understanding the origin of qubit performance limitations. The first results indicating the achievement of high-performance devices were reported this summer.

The big hurdle for making a working quantum computer: Quantum states are very fragile. Defects and properties of the materials that make up superconducting qubits are responsible for performance limitations.   

“The Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility provides us access to an array of tools to experiment with different materials to extend the performance of our superconducting quantum devices,” said Mustafa Bal, head of SQMS Center nanofabrication. “Their support and ease of access allows the center to fabricate the devices needed to achieve our goal of building a quantum computer.”

Read the full article on Fermilab's website