WSi-based Quantum Nanowire Circuits

Kinetic inductance materials have been widely used in superconducting circuits to achieve high inductances from small-footprint devices. They are also an attractive choice for creating nonlinear elements for circuit QED applications. The use of high-kinetic inductance nanowires in superconducting qubits could lead to the realization of weak-link junctions, which could provide a new element for designing various novel qubits. However, devices with these materials have yet to achieve both a high nonlinearity and low loss performance comparable to Josephson junction-based devices. Based on its robust performance in single-photon detectors, we focus on fabricating quantum circuits from the disordered superconductor WSi as both a kinetic inductor and a nonlinear nanowire. In this talk, we present our designs and characterization of WSi nanowire-based devices.