An engineering guide to superconducting quantum circuit shielding

Abstract

In this review, we provide a practical guide to superconducting quantum circuits protection from broadband electromagnetic and infrared radiation using cryogenic shielding and microwave line filtering. Recently, superconducting multi-qubit processors demonstrated quantum supremacy and quantum error correction below the surface code threshold. However, the decoherence-induced loss of quantum information still remains a challenge for 100+ qubit quantum computing. Here, we review the key aspects of superconducting quantum circuits shielding from stray electromagnetic fields and infrared radiation—multilayer shielding design, materials, fridge line filtration, cryogenic setup configurations, and shielding efficiency evaluation methods developed over the last 10 years. In summary, we provide recommendations for the design of an efficient and compact shielding system, as well as microwave filtering for large-scale superconducting quantum systems.