Haoxin Zhou is a postdoctoral researcher in the Quantum Devices Group at UC Berkeley, where he works with Alp Sipahigil on superconducting microwave circuits and nanomechanical devices. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, he was an IQIM Postdoctoral Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2021, and his B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2015.
Research
Advancing superconducting quantum processors requires effective error reduction and scalability for robust performance. Achieving lower error rates in qubits necessitates a refined understanding and control of decoherence mechanisms. My research explores decoherence in superconducting qubits due to unintended electromechanical coupling, with a particular focus on piezoelectric losses. While centrosymmetric materials like silicon and sapphire, which lack piezoelectric properties, are generally preferred as qubit substrates, interface regions with broken symmetry can introduce significant piezoelectric losses. Our surface acoustic wave transmission experiments have demonstrated that interface piezoelectricity at aluminum-silicon junctions contributes to substantial qubit dissipation. Currently, we are examining the coupling between surface acoustic wave phonons and microwave photons in hybrid qubit-surface acoustic wave devices to gain deeper insights into this loss mechanism and to develop effective mitigation strategies.
