Mechanical dissipation in MoRe superconducting metal drums

S. Yanai, V. Singh, M. Yuan, M. F. Gely, S. J. Bosman, G. A. Steele

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2 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

We experimentally investigate dissipation in mechanical resonators made of a disordered superconducting thin film of a Molybdenum-Rhenium(MoRe) alloy. Electrostatically driving the drum with a resonant AC voltage, we detect its motion using a superconducting microwave cavity. From the temperature dependence of mechanical resonance frequencies and quality factors, we find evidence for non-resonant, mechanically active two-level systems (TLSs) limiting its quality factor at low temperature. In addition, we observe a strong suppression of mechanical dissipation at large mechanical driving amplitudes, suggesting an unconventional saturation of the non-resonant TLSs. These observations shed light on the mechanism of mechanical damping in superconducting drums and routes towards understanding dissipation in such devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number083103
Number of pages4
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume110
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Feb 2017

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