30 GHz-voltage controlled oscillator operating at 4 K

Abstract

Solid-state qubit manipulation and read-out fidelities are reaching fault-tolerance, but quantum error correction requires millions of physical qubits and therefore a scalable quantum computer architecture. To solve signal-line bandwidth and fan-out problems, microwave sources required for qubit manipulation might be embedded close to the qubit chip, typically operating at temperatures below 4 K. Here, we perform the first low temperature measurements of a 130 nm BiCMOS based SiGe voltage controlled oscillator at cryogenic temperature. We determined the frequency and output power dependence on temperature and magnetic field up to 5 T and measured the temperature influence on its noise performance. The device maintains its full functionality from 300 K to 4 K. The carrier frequency at 4 K increases by 3% with respect to the carrier frequency at 300 K, and the output power at 4 K increases by 10 dB relative to the output power at 300 K. The frequency tuning range of approximately 20% remains unchanged between 300 K and 4 K. In an in-plane magnetic field of 5 T, the carrier frequency shifts by only 0.02% compared to the frequency at zero magnetic field.