Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) is part of the SuperLSI project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In the three-year project, stable key technologies for highly integrated superconducting quantum circuits of high quality are to be realized. By researching and developing novel manufacturing processes for components of superconducting quantum systems, Leibniz IPHT contributes its experience in the field of quantum technologies to the project.
 
Quantum technologies offer the potential to penetrate and positively change numerous areas of industry and society – from medical technology and biotechnology to mobility and data security. In order to use highly efficient superconducting circuits as a technology platform for quantum systems, extremely precise and fast manufacturing processes according to defined quality criteria are required. Leibniz IPHT is dedicated to the sub-project, i. e. the development and testing of standardized processes and thin-film technologies, as part of the SuperLSI project (Highly Integrated Superconducting Nanostructures for Quantum Technologies).
 
To this end, researchers at Leibniz IPHT are working together with partners from industry and academia on new coating and structuring processes as well as DUV laser lithography for the full-area realization of highly integrated quantum circuits on a 4“ substrate (wafer-scale). In addition, superconducting material concepts are being researched in order to be able to develop reliable and robust quantum circuits of high quality and with unique functionalities.
 
„As Leibniz IPHT, we have many years of experience in the research and characterization of micro-structured superconducting circuits, which we are now contributing to the project. In SuperLSI we will, among other things, test and evaluate various wafer-scale coating and etching processes to create specific metallic structures on nanometer scale for superconducting circuits in a controlled manner. In this way, components with defined features, for example with specific layer thicknesses and surfaces, can be realized,“ explains Dr. Ronny Stolz, head of the Quantum Systems Department at Leibniz IPHT.
 
The aim of the project is to define all the individual steps for creating efficient superconducting quantum circuits and to bundle them into an overall process with defined standards, ranging from the concept and the design of the circuit to the final implementation. The basic processes defined in this way are intended to contribute to making quantum-based instrumentation easier, faster, and cheaper to produce in the future and thus help quantum technologies into a broader application. The quantum circuits generated in this way can be used, for example, to realize very sensitive quantum sensors for exploration and navigation systems as well as precise diagnostic procedures or highly developed, powerful quantum computers that will be significantly superior to today’s computers in solving complex tasks in the future.
 
About the SuperLSI project
 
The project SuperLSI is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 5.6 million euros over a period of three years under the coordination of the University Heidelberg. Five German partners from research and industry are working together to improve quantum systems by developing superconducting circuits. The Kirchhoff Institute for Physics of the Heidelberg University, Heidelberg Instruments Mikrotechnik GmbH, BESTEC GmbH, Sentech Instruments GmbH and Leibniz IPHT are involved as research partners.

Sputtercluster II
In the picture:

The sputtering cluster paves the way for highly integrated superconducting quantum circuits.