Quantum Mechanical Simulation of Aluminium Oxide Tunnel Junctions as Superconducting Qubits

Partners: University of Glasgow (V. Georgiev)

Oxford Quantum Hub £168K January 2022 to May 2023

The main aim of this project is to develop and extend even further the capabilities of the University of Glasgow unique computational framework called NESS. This new development of NESS will allow us to model and simulate not only realistic size superconducting qubits but more importantly it will allow us to include variability sources, such as surface roughness and trap charges. Here we will investigate Al/Al2O3/Al interfaces (Josephson Junctions) as qubits. The simulation framework will combine various quantum mechanical methods that will allow us to simulate not only material growth of Al/Al2O3/Al interfaces but also the variability of the tunnelling current due to trap charges, surface roughness and defects. Our computational framework (NESS) is unique because it uses a combination of mesoscopic physical and chemical models and these models can be combined with quantum chemical methods, such as Density Functional Theory (DFT). The expected outcome from this work is improved design guidelines and rules in order to achieve better qubit fidelity and coherent time in superconducting Josephson Junctions (JJ).

Link to the website: https://www.qcshub.org/