Cryogenic Electronics

We are developing electronic nanoscale devices that leverage cryogenic environments to enhance performance and enable new functionalities. A key application for our research is quantum computing. As quantum computers scale up the number of qubits, the complexity of the control and readout electronics increases as well. Integrating electronic sub-systems at cryogenic temperatures can reduce system complexity and cost, but must respect the limited power budgets of cryostats.

The features of most semiconductor devices, such as transistors and memories, improve at low temperature. If these features are properly understood, new device designs can lead to lower power consumption, higher operating frequency, improved reliability and reduced noise. In our group, we are characterizing state-of-the-art electronics, including advanced CMOS, at cryogenic temperatures, and creating models describing and predicting their operation.

A schematic figure showing the various benefits of low-temperature operation of electronics, at different levels of complexity, from circuit to transistor device.

We are also designing and creating our own cryogenic transistors in the BRNC cleanroom. We are focusing on the high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT), based on InGaAs and InP compound semiconductors, which comprise cryogenic low-noise amplifiers. Such devices are already today used in quantum computers to perform qubit readout. Our work is focused on developing new HEMT technologies using novel cryogenic materials, to support readout in increasingly advanced quantum computers.

A cross-section transmission electron microscope image of a high-electron-mobility transistor fabricated in the BRNC cleanroom.