Mihir Pendharkar is a Project Scientist in the David Schuster group at Stanford University, where he was previously a Bloch Postdoctoral Fellow. Mihir works on materials for superconducting qubits with an interest in the microscopic origins of loss. He received his PhD from UC Santa Barbara with Chris Palmstrøm, on molecular beam epitaxy of superconductor–semiconductor hybrid heterostructures.
Presentation Title:
Beyond Conventional Superconductor Deposition, and What It Might Mean for Qubits
Presentation Abstract:
Many of the limits on quantum device performance are set during materials deposition rather than during design or fabrication. I will describe work layering superconductors on semiconductors at cryogenic temperatures, a regime that produced interfaces clean enough to preserve parity — a requirement for topological physics, and one that more conventional growth had not met. The broader point is that careful control during growth determines much of what a device can do, well before it is measured. I will close by focusing on materials used for superconducting qubits, and the open question of whether comparable care during growth can reduce loss.